New Begonia species described from Arunachal Pradesh

A new species of Begonia, a genus of perennial flowering plants, has been described from Keyi Panyor district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Begonia neelamorum , the newly identified species, features in the latest issue of Taiwania , an international peer-reviewed scientific journal, alongside at least two other new members of the family Begoniaceae. They are Begonia salog from the Philippines and Begonia andariasii from Sulawesi.

Dipankar Borah, a botany teacher at Kaliabor College in central Assam’s Nagaon district, is the lead author of the study on the new species from Arunachal Pradesh. The other authors are Madhusadhan Khanal of Sikkim University, Momang Taram of Jawaharlal Nehru College in Arunachal Pradesh, and Neelam Gap, a member of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union.

During an expedition, the researchers found the single-leaf, tuberous Begonia growing on steep, moist walls along the Keyi River at about 1,000 metres above mean sea level.