6 new orchid species found in Manipur

Six more new species of orchid were found in Manipur by the scientists of the Orchid Research and Development, Hengbung in Manipur Senapati district.

One of the six newly discovered orchid species has a unique character as it has no Chlorophyll, according to Prof TK Chandrashekar, secretary of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India who talked at a function held at Orchid Research and Development Centre, Hengbung in connection with inauguration of a visitors’ house there.

Of the total 286 reported species of orchids grown in Manipur, 26 species were found last year by a research team of the Centre for Orchid Gene Conservation of the Eastern Himalayan Region, which conducted a survey in the forests of Manipur.

Out of these the centre at Henbung hill range in Senapati district had collected 211 species so far apart from the 26 new species found in Senapati and Ukhrul districts in the last five years.

Orchid Preservation Centre at Khonghampat in Imphal West district under the state wildlife wing of forest department was preserving about 220 species of orchids including the rare and endangered species.

Among the highly threatened species of orchids specified in Schedule-VI of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, three species namely, Blue vanda (Vanda Coerulea) (Kwaklei), Red vanda (Renanthera imschootiana) (Kwaklei Angangba) and Lady’s slipper (Paphiopedilum spp.) (Khongup Lei) are at present preserved at the Centre, a source from the centre said.

There are also three other orchid species endemic to Manipur, namely– Ascocentrum ampullaceum var.auruanticum (Nachom Lei), Schoenorchis manipurensis and Kalimpongia narjitii.

The Northeastern region of the country was estimated to have about 600 species of orchids. As per Biological Survery of India (BSI), Manipur alone have about 450 species.

The Khonghampat Centre is an ex-situ preservation centre with about 220 species of orchids.  The Centre is also preserving various species of trees, bamboos and other imortant rare and vanishing plants of the state.

Among them, species such as, Agar (Aquileria agalocha), Ushingsha (Cinamomum zelanicm), Hing (Ferula asafoetida), Ficus krishnae (Makhan katori), Tairel (edrela toona), Heirangoi (Amoora rohituka), Budha’s bamboo (Babusa vulgaris forma waminii), Apatani bamboo (phyllotachys), Kwamanbi (Smilex lanceifolia), Yendang (Cycas pectinata), Chandrika (Rauwolfia serpentine), Bokul (Mimusops elengii), (Nageshwar (Mesua ferrea), Glory lily (Gloriosa superba) and Ashoka treee (Saraca indica).

~NP