New checklist documents 3,261 flowering plant species in Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve

A new checklist of flowering plants in South India’s Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (ABR) seeks to reaffirm the global significance of the Western Ghats as a biodiversity hotspot and the need for focused, region-specific strategies for protecting it.

The checklist was compiled by the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) in Thiruvananthapuram.

The JNTBGRI research team documented 3,261 species, 26 sub-species and 28 varieties belonging to 1,139 genera and 190 families in the ABR.

Among other things, they recorded a “high level” of endemism and biogeographic affinity with Sri Lankan and even tropical American flora.

The astonishing heft of ABR’s floral wealth upholds its position as “one of the most significant centres of angiosperm diversity and endemism in the Indian subcontinent.”