Rare & Endangered Plants
Assessing and Documenting Rare and Endangered Plants
We have identified a number of Rare and Critically Endangered plants in eastern India. For example, we reported the Critically Endangered status of bhadu tree (Vitex glabrata) in West Bengal, the last specimen of which was felled in 2016. The tree is now extinct in Bengal, but we have rescued the plant by tissue culture of seeds collected in previous years. Two saplings thus rescued have been transplanted on Basudha campus, Odisha.
[See media report here]
We identified and collected specimens and tissue samples of rare plants, including Vitex glabrata, Tamilnadis uliginosa and Cordia macleodii. [View video here]
We have also identified a rare tree, locally known as Sitapatra, which is found only in West Medinipur and Bankura districts of West Bengal, and is Critically Endangered in the State. With the help of molecular taxonomic analysis, using DNA markers, we established its taxonomic identity as Cordia macleodii, and described its distribution in the State of West Bengal. [see publication in Webbia Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography]
Rescue of Endangered Plants on Basudha farm
We have planted on Basudha’s campus two saplings of Vitex glabrata rescued by tissue culture. These are most likely the last two specimens of the species in eastern India. We have also planted a sapling of Tamilnadia uliginosa, a rare tree in eastern India.
