NAINITAL: A rare orchid species that was previously unreported in India has been found blooming at an altitude of 3,800m in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. The surprise find was made by the forest department which was scouring the area to collect orchid varieties for a conservation centre that has come up in the state.
Last year, TOI had reported that the team had sighted another rare species in the country after a gap of 120 years. Flowers of Liparis Pygmaea — a deep shade of purple — were found in the Western Himalayan Region in the same area in August 2020. Before this, the species had been recorded in India in 1896.
The latest discovery in Chamoli’s Mandal Valley was made last month and shared with the public on Friday during the inauguration of an orchid conservation centre there. White flowers of the species, Cephalanthera erecta, were sighted by Manoj Singh, a junior research fellow with the forest department.
Sanjeev Chaturvedi, chief conservator of forests (research) told TOI that the species was rare and protected under appendix II of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) which deals with species whose habitats need conservation.
The centre has been built on van panchayat land in Mandal Valley. It will be looked after by local residents in the region who will be sent to the northeast to undergo training on orchid cultivation. The centre houses over 70 varieties of orchids and is spread across an area of six acres. It includes an orchid nursery and a 1.2km long orchid trail.
The forest department said the conservation centre will also help boost research on the plants. “Orchids are very susceptible to climate change so closely monitoring them can help us better understand the changing climate,” said a forest official.
Earlier, there were plans to set up the centre in Pithoragarh and initial work had been done, but it was washed away after a cloudburst.
