Gongronema sasidharanii Robi, Salish, & V.K. Sreenivas, a New Plant Species Discovered from Pambadum shola National Park, Idukki
Dr. Robi A.J, Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, BAM College, Thuruthicadu, is credited with the discovery and establishing the plant as a distinct species. During the survey in the Pampadumshola National park in 2019, the plant has been named Gongronema sasidharanii after Dr. N. Sasidharan, a former scientist of the Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi for his contributions to floristics, according to a paper on the discovery published in August 2024 issue of the Nordic Journal of Botany.
Plants of the genus Gongronema are described as terrestrial twining plants or undershrubs with smooth stems, opposite leaves and small urceolate or urn-shaped flowers. The new species belongs to Asclepiadoidiae, the milkweed sub-family of the flowering plant family Apocynaceae. In India the genus has so far been represented by just three species found in northeast India, UP, Punjab and West Bengal. Moreover, it turns the spotlight once again on the rich floral wealth of Kerala’s Western Ghats regions.
