New Plant Species of West Bengal

Question: New plant species from two protected National Parks in West Bengal has been named after which of the following former President?
(a) Abdul Kalam
(b) Pranab Mukherjee
(c) Pratibha Patil
(d) Rajendra Prasad
Answer: (a)
Related Facts:

  • In February, 2018 Scientists from the Botanical Survey of India have identified a new plant species from two protected National Parks in West Bengal.
  • This is a small shrub Named ‘Drypetes kalamii’.
  • The new plant was named after former President Abdul Kalam.
  • This has been found in the smaller version of its nearest species Drypetes Ellisii
  • It has now been included in India’s rich ‘Floral Wealth’.
  • This plant is of unisexual nature.
  • Its height is only one meter.
  • Unisexual means that this plant is found separately as a Male and Female Plant.
  • Plants have been found in ‘Baksa National Park’ and ‘Jaldapara National Park’ (West Bengal).
  • It is important to note that 220 species of ‘Drypetes’ have been marked worldwide and 20 of which belong to India.
  • This new species is close to a medicinal plant known as Putrajivah in Sanskrit.
  • It is important that NASA also recently named a bacterium named after Kalam.
  • For the recently discovered plant in India, the name of Kalam was chosen because it is a big motivation for students and young researchers.
  • Following the rules of IUCN (International Union for the Protection of Nature), scientists have temporarily evaluated this plant as a ‘Critically Endangered.

Reference:
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/new-plant-species-from-west-bengal-named-after-former-president-abdul-kalam/article22845140.ece
http://www.newsbharati.com/Encyc/2018/2/25/New-plant-named-after-former-president.html