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Context:

• A rare hemi-parasitic terrestrial plant has been found in Phawngpui National Park of Mizoram.

Phtheirospermum lushaiorum

• A research scholar from the Botanical Survey of India have found a new and very rare terrestrial hemi-parasitic plant.
• Scientific Name: Phtheirospermum lushaiorum
• Place: Phawngpui national park peak in Lawngtlai district of Mizoram.
• They lack a fully developed root system and form connections with another plant, from which it obtains some or all of its water and minerals.
• They have chlorophyll and produce their own food by photosynthesis, and in some cases are capable of limited growth in the absence of the host plant.
• They tap into the sap-conducting tissue of the host by means of specialized structures called haustoria.
• They flower only during July to September and fruits are produced during August to October.
• “The specific epithet “lushaiorum” is named after the “Lushai” tribe of Mizoram.

Phawngpui National Park

• Phawngpui National Park or Phawngpui Blue Mountain National Park is one of the two national parks of India in Mizoram, the other and the larger being Murlen National Park.
• It is about 300 km from the main city Aizawl.
• It bears the name of the mountain Phawngpui, often called the Blue Mountain of Mizoram, which is the highest mountain peak in the state.
• Fauna: Park provides habitat for a range of birds including the rare Blyth's tragopan, falcon, sunbirds, dark-rumped swift, and Hume's pheasant, which is the Mizoram state bird, and also rare animals like the mountain goat, slow loris, tiger, leopard, leopard cat, serow, goral, Asiatic black bear, stump-tailed macaque and capped langur.
• Flora: orchids and rhododendrons, with areas of bamboo.

Source:

https://www.eastmojo.com/mizoram/2024/05/18/new-hemiparasite-plant-species-named-after-lushai-tribe-of-mizoram/#google_vignette

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