THOOTHUKUDI: In a rare discovery, a botanist has found a Yemen-origin plant species, Heliotropium Bacciferum Forssk, at G Venkataswamy Naidu College campus in Kovilpatti of Thoothukudi district. The herb plant has not yet been recorded in the official records of flora available in south Indian states.
G Venkataswamy Naidu College Department of Botany Assistant professor Dr R Lakshmanan, who discovered the new species, said this plant belongs to the Heliotropium genus of the Boraginaceae family. He identified the species in 2021-22 and has been studying it for the past year.
Describing the morphology of the plant, Lakshmanan said it is a small perennial herbaceous plant, that grows up to a height of 50 cm. "Bulbous bases give rise to leaves, and globular nutlets are its fruits. The plant also has white sessile flowers. It is a rare species and has been recorded only in Rajasthan and Gujarat within India," said Lakshmanan, who holds a doctorate in plant taxonomy and has eight years of experience in plant research. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has enlisted Heliotropium Bacciferum Forssk as a vulnerable species.
The discovery of the herb has been authenticated by the Botanical Survey of India's (BSI) southern regional centre functioning out of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University campus in Coimbatore on July 29. The BSI scientists had declared that Heliotropium Bacciferum Forssk is not found in the flora records of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Lakshmanan, who had documented 617 plant species during his medico-ethnobotanical study at Palamalai Hills in Mettur, pointed out that botanists from Rajasthan had examined Heliotropium's medicinal properties for extracting ingredients for preparing painkillers and cancer-curing drugs. "Heliotropium Bacciferum Forssk typically grows in the hot climate zones of Yemen, Pakistan and Rajasthan. Perhaps, it might have reached the southern peninsular areas through migratory birds," he said.
"It is the first time that the species is being reported from south India. It sets a new record for Tamil Nadu's flora. Being a native of tropical climate areas, the heliotropium species might have adapted to sustain this subtropical climate," he said, adding that the identification of the new species has provided scope for new research on the species' biological activity. The species has a good chance of overcoming threats of habitat loss and so it needs to be preserved, he further added.