Annamalai University students discover new grape family plant in Tamil Nadu’s Eastern Ghats
Chidambaram: Two Botany students from Annamalai University and their guide have discovered a new plant species in the grape family in Tamil Nadu.
The species was found in the southern Eastern Ghats, in Villupuram district, during a climb up the 290-foot-tall Sanjeevi hill. The team was documenting local flora when they came across the plant. It has been named Cyphostemma annamalaii, after Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiyar, the founder of Annamalai University in Chidambaram.
The discovery adds a new member to the genus Cyphostemma, part of the grape family Vitaceae. Researchers said the plant has distinct morphological features that set it apart from related species.
The find was made during a routine field survey and later confirmed through taxonomic study. The discovery highlights the biodiversity still undocumented in the Eastern Ghats, a range often overshadowed by the Western Ghats in botanical research.
“Field work by students is crucial for cataloguing India’s plant diversity,” the team’s guide said. “Sanjeevi hill and surrounding areas likely hold more species new to science.” Specimens have been deposited in recognized herbaria, and the formal description will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. The university plans to continue surveys in the region to document more native and potentially threatened flora.
