The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation will join hands with the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) to prepare a detailed mapping of the rare and endangered plants endemic to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve.
The mapping survey would begin soon, said Parambikulam Tiger Reserve deputy director Vysak Sasikumar. He said it was time to update the inventory of the rare plant species that brought glory to the reserve.
KFRI’s senior silviculturist P. Sujanapal will lead the mapping.
According to Dr. Sujanapal, examining the status and conserving some rare and endangered plants of Parambikulam was vital. “We will mark the rare, threatened and endemic species of plants, and will closely examine their population depletion,” said Dr. Sujanapal.
Many rare species
The Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, with a core area of 390.89 sq km and a buffer zone of 252.77 sq km, has many rare species of plants which cannot be seen anywhere else in the world. Of the hundreds of species of angiosperms (flowering plants) found in Parambikulam, some are extremely rare.
Haplothismia exannulata, an angiosperm that looks like a fungus, remains the finest example. “This genus is not found anywhere else in the world. You can see it only during the months of September, October and November. This ephemeral plant will remain underground through the other months of the year,” said Dr. Sujanapal.
Haplothismia exannulata is found only in some pockets of Parambikulam.
“If we lose this plant because of our carelessness, then it will vanish from the face of the earth forever,” he said.
Climber
Colubrina travancorica, a climber thought to have been extinct since it was recorded over a century ago, was also found at Parambikulam.
Scientists have recorded more than 1,400 species of angiosperms in the reserve. They include nearly six dozen species of wild orchids. “One particular orchid is extremely rare,” said Dr. Sujanapal.
Parambikulam supports a high density of South India’s wild gaur population. Nilgiri tahr, the only South Indian wild goat, is found in the high altitude terrains of the Parambikulam reserve.
