7th Apr 2021 11:04:PM State
Eastern Sentinel Arunachal News

RONO HILLS, Apr 7: An article titled ‘Begonia kekarmonyingensis (Begoniaceae), a new species from Arunachal Pradesh’ published in Phytotaxa, the world’s leading peer-reviewed scientific journal co-authored by researchers from three leading institutes including Rajiv Gandhi University has caught the attention of the global botany academia.
The article has been jointly authored by RGU Ph.D. scholar Momang Taram, Assistant Professor of Goalpara College Dipankar Borah and Tropical Biodiversity Scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, England Mark Hughes. “Begonia is a very complex genus with a lot of sections and 2000 species and it’s much difficult to identify them and find its closest allies. We almost failed to find the second ally and its only after help from the journal's editor we found it,” Taram informed. The new species finds its extant population in the moist crevices near Kekar Monying, a mountain cliff of Babuk in Siang district which is about 500 metres long and 50 meters high and offers a stunning view of the surrounding area, she said while explaining the reason for naming the species as Begonia kekarmonyingensis. 
This is the second article on Begonia species the trio had jointly published after the famous Begonia Oyuniae  which was named by Oyun Dai, Taram’s mother who is an enthusiastic Adi plant taxonomist as well. “It was in February when Momang called me and informed she had found a new and interesting Begonia. I reached Pasighat as quickly as possible and saw the plant followed by capturing photographs. After contacting Hughes and  sharing conversations and emails with him for almost 6 months, we finally communicated to Phytotaxa and with support from the journal’s Subject Editor, also an expert on Chinese Begonia, the article was finally published after 1 year and two months from the day we took the species in our hands.” Borah said.
The common name of the species has been kept as Kekar-Monying Begonia to highlight the place of its origin and for easy understanding and pronunciation by the locals that would also generate a sense of conservation of the species among them. 


Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List