Key Points:
- The new species of the Flowering Plant will now be called ‘Argyreia Sharadchandrajii’ after the name of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.
- Dr. Shimpale, the researcher, reasoned the naming as “his immense contribution to Indian agriculture” as a Union minister.
- Sharad Pawar helped Shimpale publish his research on flora in Baramati, which happened to be another reason for the naming.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has sown seeds of politics and also of being a great politician all around and it has all been fruitful. But now, an actual plant has been discovered in South Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district which is named after the NCP chief.
A report said that the reason behind the naming is that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has given “his immense contribution to Indian agriculture” as a Union minister.
The new species of the Flowering Plant will now be called ‘Argyreia Sharadchandrajii’.
Researchers Dr Pramod R Lawand and Dr Vinod B Shimpale told news agency PTI that the species, belonging to the genus Argyreia and now has been named ‘Argyreia Sharadchandrajii’.
This new species of the flowering plant was found in the Alamprabhu Dev-raai (sacred grove), said Lawand and Shimpale, who teach botany at a college in Kolhapur.
The research work on Argyreia sharadchandrajii (Convolvulaceae) has even been published by the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy which happens to be a new species from the Western Ghats, India, the study mentioned.
Dr Shimpale told news agency PTI that almost 40 sub-species of the Argyreia genus are present in India.
“These species are found in only Asiatic countries. Of 40, 17 are endemic to India, and now we have discovered an 18th one in the Alamprabhu Sacred Grove in Ramling hills,” he added.
Adding in, Shimpale said, “It grows in open habitats and trails on grassland but remains rooted near other shrubs.”
The plant flowers between July and September and the fruiting period lasts till December.
Dr. Shimpale told PTI when asked that why the plant was after the veteran leader replied that some years back, Sharad Pawar helped Shimpale publish his research on flora in Baramati which happened to be the NCP chief’s political battleground, financially. The resewas in the form of a book.
Kolhapur district is in the Western Ghats ecological zone, which is known for its rich biodiversity.
