By IANS

Kozhikode : Scientists have discovered a new plant species, named Miliusa Wayanaddica and belonging to the Annonaceae family, in Kerala's Wayanad district.

The new plant was discovered by M.K. Ratheesh Narayanan of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Kalpetta, Wayanad, and P. Sujanapal of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI).

It was found in the Meppadi forest range in the Western Ghats at an altitude of 1,400 metres above the sea level.

"The plant is endemic to the area, but has no known local name," Narayanan said.

"It was during a study of flowering plants of Wayanad that we came across this plant. We could also locate another species Eugenia Argentea, which was considered extinct. A British military officer, Col Richard Beddom, discovered the plant in 1870.

"The species was unseen for the last 100 years and was entered in the red data book as extinct," Narayanan said.

"The new find was authenticated by world renowned botanists J.F. Veldkamp of National Herbarium, Netherlands, and Paul Kebbler of the Missouri Botanical Garden," Sujanapal said.