Fimbristylis Sunilii; Neanotis Prabhuii 

Fimbristylis Sunilii; Neanotis Prabhuii 

Part of: Prelims and GS III – Biodiversity 

Context Researchers have reported two new plant species from the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats regions in Thiruvananthapuram and Wayanad districts of Kerala.

• They have been named Fimbristylis sunilii and Neanotis prabhuii.

Fimbristylis sunilii:

• Collected from the grasslands of Ponmudi hills, Thiruvananthapuram, Fimbristylis sunilii has been named after plant taxonomist C.N. Sunil, retired professor and research guide of Botany, SNM College.
• A perennial plant of the Cyperaceae family, it stands 20-59 cm tall and was collected from an elevation of 1,100 metres.
• Fimbristylis sunilii has been provisionally assessed as data deficient (DD) under the IUCN Red List categories.

Neanotis prabhuii:

• Neanotis prabhuii is a prostrate perennial herb named after K.M. Prabhukumar, Senior Scientist at CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, in recognition of his research on flowering plants of the Western Ghats.
• Discovered in the Chembra Peak grasslands of Wayanad, it hails from the family Rubiaceae and grows on high-altitude grasslands.
• Neanotis prabhuii grows up to 70 cm in length and is many-flowered with the petals pale pink in colour.