After years, a new plant species discovered in Tripura

Guwahati: In the Northeast, most ‘new’ discoveries with regard to plants are made in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Mizoram. It is not often that one hears the name of Tripura in such conversations, but that is about to change after a new plant species was discovered in Tripura.

The new plant species, Begonia tripurensis, was found by Dixit Bora, a plant taxonomist from Tripura University, during an expedition to Dumboor Lake of Tirthamukh, Gomati district. Dipankar Borah of Kaliabor College, Mark Hughes of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Sani Das, Biplab Banik, Smita Debbarma Badal Kumar Dutta- all from Plant Taxonomy and Biodiversity Laboratory, Department of Botany, Tripura University, helped Bora.  

Dumboor Lake is a popular lake which harbours a wide variety of fauna and flora and is surrounded by hills and dense forest.