Miliusa nilagirica Bedd.,commonly called Nilagiri Miliusa belongs to family Annonaceae conserved at MSSBG conservatory bloomed with its solitary purplish flowers.
It’s a vulnerable shrub (IUCN Status: Vulnerable B1+2c ver 2.3) and occurrences are sparsely scattered in medium and high elevation of evergreen forests of Western Ghats at an altitude of 900-1700m. The scientists and research enthusiasts from MSSRF CAbC and Botanical Garden observed this species during their field trial at ‘Chembra’, ‘Kurichiyar mala’, ‘Banasura hills’ and ‘Pakshipathalam’, though sparsely scattered. It has been propagated through seeds. It was first reported by R.H Beddome in 1868 from Wayanad.
References
- Ratheesh Narayanan, M.K., Nandakumar, M.K., Sunil, C.N., Balakrishnan, V. and Sujana, K. A. Rare Endemic and Threatened Plants of Western Ghats, Southern book star, Kerala, pp. 38 (2018)
- http://www.iucnredlist.org/
Information: Mr. Salim Pichan and Dr. Smitha S. Thankappan; Photography: Mr. Salim Pichan; Editing: Dr. Smitha S. Thankappan; Approval: Dr. N Anil Kumar