Researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI), Palode, have discovered a new evergreen tree species from the southern Western Ghats of Kerala. The newly discovered species identified in the riparian forests of the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary has been officially named, Humboldtia nairiana. The discovery was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Plant Development Sciences.

The species, belonging to the genus Humboldtia, has been named in honour of G.M. Nair, a distinguished plant biotechnologist and former Director of JNTBGRI, acknowledging his outstanding contributions to botanical research and plant conservation, and on the occasion of his 75th birth anniversary. The initial breakthrough for the discovery began in 2010 during a floristic exploration along the Cheenikkala-Pandimotta forest trail within the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary. JNTBGRI researchers Santhosh Kumar E.S., Sabu T. and Shareef S.M. collected an unusual and taxonomically intriguing specimen.

To carefully observe and safeguard the plant, a few healthy seedlings were brought back and successfully established ex-situ within the JNTBGRI Arboretum. After a prolonged juvenile phase, the cultivated trees began flowering and fruiting in 2022. This allowed the research team to conduct a comprehensive morphological assessment, which confirmed that its distinct vegetative and reproductive characters set it apart as a brand-new species to science.

Medium-sized tree

Humboldtia nairiana is a medium-sized evergreen tree that grows between 5 to 8 metres in height. While it shares a close affinity to Humboldtia ponmudiana, it possesses stable and distinguishing features including a unique warty, pale brown bark with a distinct creamy-white blaze; angled, glabrous branchlets; distinctly shorter, sparsely hairy, isometric stipules and appendages; larger flowers with comparatively long pedicels, and produces elliptic-oblong fruits with a shorter beak.

The species is strictly endemic to Kerala and is presently known only from the biodiversity-rich Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve at an elevation of about 300 meters. Alarmingly, field surveys indicate a fragile wild population. The entire known habitat spans an area of less than 2 sq.km. and comprises less than 10 mature trees. Based on the IUCN Red List criteria, the researchers have categorised the species as ‘data deficient’ to highlight the immediate need for extensive field tracking and strict habitat protection to prevent it from sliding into extinction.