New plant species discovered In Maharashtra named after Sharad Pawar

New Delhi, April 02: Recognising the contrbution of National Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar that he has made as Union agriculture minister, a new species of flowering plants belonging to the genus 'Argyreia', has been named after the NCP chief.

 

The species has been named 'Argyreia sharadchandrajii'. The new species recently discovered in south Maharashtra's Kolhapur district. Kolhapur district falls in the famous Western Ghats ecological zone, known for its rich biodiversity.

 

This was announced by researchers Dr. Pramod R Lawand and Dr. Vinod B Shimpale. The research paper by Dr. Pramod R Lawand and Dr. Vinod B Shimpale ‘Argyreia sharadchandrajii (Convolvulaceae), a new species from the Western Ghats, India’ was recently published in the Journal of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy.

 

 

Speaking about the development, Dr. Shimpale said around 40 sub-species of the Argyreia genus are found in India. “These species are found in only Asiatic countries. Of 40, 17 are endemic to India, and now we have discovered an 18th one in the Alamprabhu Sacred Grove in Ramling hills,” he said. The plant flowers between July and September and the fruiting period lasts till December. “It grows in open habitats and trails on grassland but remains rooted near other shrubs,” Simple said.

 

Simple said a few years ago Pawar helped him financially for publishing his research on the flora in Baramati—the NCP chief's political bastion—in the form of a book when he was asked why the plant was after the veteran leader. Simple added that another reason for naming the plant after Pawar was "his immense contribution to Indian agriculture" as a Union minister.

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