TETRATAENIUM MUNNARENSE: DISCOVERY OF A NEW WILD CORIANDER SPECIES

Why In News?

Botanists from Tamil Nadu discovered a new endemic plant species—a wild coriander named Tetrataenium munnarense—in the Western Ghats. 

What is Tetrataenium munnarense?

Tetrataenium munnarense is a newly discovered endemic species of wild coriander found in the Western Ghats of Kerala.

It belongs to the Apiaceae family (commonly known as the carrot, parsley, or celery family), which is renowned for aromatic and medicinal plant species such as coriander, cumin, and parsley.

Habitat: The plant was collected from Lockhart Gap in the Devikulam Range of the Munnar Hills (Idukki district, Kerala) at an elevation of 1,719 meters. It grows in high-altitude montane ecosystems on rocky slopes alongside native grasses, herbs, and ferns.

Physical Characteristics: It is an aromatic herb featuring long-petioled leaves, ovate-lanceolate leaflets, 6 cm–10 cm long peduncles, and white petals.

Economic & Medicinal Potential: Like other members of the Apiaceae family, it contains essential oils that offer potential applications in traditional medicine, food flavoring, cosmetics, and the fragrance industry.

Threats: Field surveys documented a restricted population of only 40 to 60 mature plants, highly vulnerable to ecological pressures such as dry-season fires and cattle grazing along the high-altitude slopes of Munnar.

Source: TIMESOFINDIA