NEW DELHI: A rare medicinal plant, which was believed to be extinct, has been rediscovered after 115 years by a team of botanists in Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri district.
Begonia Tessaricarpa, last seen in 1890, was found growing in the wild in Upper Subansiri and Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh by Kumar Ambrish and M Amadudin, scientists of the Botanical Survey India (BSI).
Known to local Adi and Tagin tribes as "Buckuchurbu" and "Rebe" respectively, the plant is used by them to treat stomach aches and dehydration.
"We have found four-five plants of Begonia Tessaricarpa in Arunachal Pradesh," Ambrish, a scientist with the Arunachal Pradesh Field Station of BSI said from Itanagar.
The plant was first mentioned by British botanist C B Clarke in 1879 and again in 1890, but had not been reported since then. No specimen of it was found deposited in the BSI herbaria, he said.
"This species is still surviving in a few pockets of Arunachal Pradesh and was found growing in damp rocky crevices," said Ambarish, who reported his discovery in the peer review journal Current Science.
The plant is eaten raw and cooked by local tribes for its "delicious sour taste". The tribals make a chutney with its leaves and stem and consume it to treat stomach pain and dehydration.
The plant's juice is used as ward of leeches by the tribes.
The flowers of the plant have four petals -- two large and two smaller -- that makes them look attractive.
Ambrish has taken the plant to the greenhouse in the BSI's Itanagar office for nurturing and detailed studies.
"Adequate measures should be taken for the protection of the plant's habitat for natural growth of the still surviving population of this species along with its conservation," he said.
The species is listed under the intermediate category in the Red Data Book, which mentions endangered plants in immediate need of conservation.
Relocation of the plant's habitat has become a necessity for protecting it from extinction, the scientists said.
