Assamese music icon Zubeen Garg has joined a rare league of public figures whose names live on in science, with a newly identified species of fragrant ginger lily becoming the third known species to be named in his honour. The new species, Hedychium zubeengargianum, was identified by botanists at the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong, after years of studying an unusual flowering plant growing in the institute’s botanical garden. The discovery has been published in the latest issue of the journal Phytotaxonomy.
The honour adds to a growing scientific legacy for the celebrated singer. A butterfly, Euthalia zubeengargi, and another plant species, Osbeckia zubeengargiana, had earlier been named after Zubeen Garg, making him one of the few cultural personalities from Northeast India to receive multiple taxonomic tributes. In their paper, the researchers said the new species was named after the singer “in recognition of his decades of cultural contribution to India and his vocal advocacy for nature conservation.” The plant was first noticed during routine maintenance of the BSI garden, where it had been growing since at least 2018.
With no records indicating where it had originally been collected, botanists undertook detailed morphological studies over several years before confirming it as a species new to science. Popularly known as ginger lilies, Hedychium species are among the Northeast’s most spectacular flowering plants. India is home to about 41 taxa, most of them concentrated in the biodiversity hotspots of the Northeast and the Western Ghats.
The newly described species is distinguished from its closest relative, Hedychium gracile, by its creamy white fragrant flowers, yellow anthers, densely hairy flowering stalk and earlier flowering season between April and May. Beyond celebrating Zubeen Garg, the discovery underscores the Northeast’s extraordinary biological wealth. Botanists continue to identify previously unknown species from the region, reinforcing its status as one of India’s richest centres of biodiversity.
The study was authored by Dilip Kumar Roy, Rikertre Lytan and Nripemo Odyuo. So far, Hedychium zubeengargianum is known only from the Botanical Survey of India garden in Shillong, and researchers hope future field surveys will trace its natural habitat in the wild.
