15-metre tree discovered in Andaman & Nicobar Islands

A 15-meter-tall tree that belongs to the genus of the coffee family has recently been discovered from the Andaman Islands by a team of researchers from India and the Philippines.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2021

The new species, Pyrostria laljii, is also the first record of the genus Pyrostria in India. Plants belonging to genus Pyrostria are usually found in Madagascar but the recently discovered species is new to science.

The tree is distinguished by a long stem with a whitish coating on the trunk, and oblong-obovate leaves with a cuneate base, and was first reported from South Andaman’s Wandoor forest.

The other places in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where the tree could be located are the Tirur forest near the Jarawa Rerserve Forest and the Chidia Tapu (Munda Pahar) forest.

Pyrostria laljii has been assessed as ‘Critically Endangered’ based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List criteria.