A team of researchers has made a groundbreaking discovery in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh, identifying a new species of flowering tree that rewrites the botanical record. The newly discovered species, Mitrephora rashmiae, has been described by researchers Navendu V. Page, Shivam Kishwan, and Tejas U. Thackeray in the international peer-reviewed journal Feddes Repertorium.
The discovery is significant not only for adding a new species to India’s growing list of botanical discoveries but also for its unprecedented reproductive feature. The researchers found that M. rashmiae is the first known member of the Mitrephora genus to bear both male and bisexual flowers on the same plant, a rare reproductive strategy known as andromonoecy.
The discovery is also important from a biogeographical perspective, as it is only the second Mitrephora species ever recorded from the Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot, expanding the known range of a genus that is largely distributed across tropical Asia and Australia. The tree was discovered during botanical surveys between Daporijo and Taliha in Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, growing along the edge of a forest stream at an elevation of about 410 meters.
Researchers have so far found only a single individual, prompting them to assign the species a provisional Data Deficient conservation status and to call for more extensive field surveys. The evergreen tree grows up to seven meters tall and produces striking cream-yellow flowers with purple-striped inner petals that form a distinctive dome-like structure.
The discovery highlights how much of the region’s biodiversity remains undocumented despite decades of scientific exploration. The researchers have named the species Mitrephora rashmiae in honor of Rashmi Thackeray, recognizing her role in fostering an early interest in nature and taxonomy and her support for the Thackeray Wildlife Foundation.
The discovery raises broader questions about biodiversity conservation in one of the world’s richest ecological regions. With just one known tree recorded so far, the researchers have called for urgent botanical surveys to determine whether more populations survive in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh, warning that habitat degradation could erase species before they are even documented.
