As per a report published in the French journal — Richardiana — a rare orchid called Liparis Pygmaea has been spotted for the first time in the hilly abode of Uttarakhand. Here’s everything we know about it so far. By Kumar Shree
A rare orchid called Liparis Pygmaea has been spotted for the first time ever in Uttarakhand’s western Himalayan region. The flower was first discovered in June by the state forest department’s research wing, during one of their treks en route Saptakund in Chamoli. The samples were then sent to the Botanical Survey of India in Pune, which later confirmed it to be Liparis Pygmaea.
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Range Officer Harish Negi and junior research fellow Manoj Singh were the two members on the team who had found this orchid. Liparis Pygmaea is a small terrestrial orchid, which commonly blooms in the months of June and July. Luckily, the team was trekking at the same time, and they happened to spot one. Since the flower was discovered for the first time in the western Himalayan region, botanists identify it as an important discovery.
The orchid also appears in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list, which makes its conservation even more crucial.
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While it is the first instance when this orchid has been discovered in Uttarakhand, it has earlier been found in other locations of the country as well, such as Sikkim and West Bengal. However, apart from India, it has also been discovered in neighbouring countries such as Nepal and China.