Kozhikode: Researchers have discovered a new plant belonging to the carrot family from the Eravikulam National Park in Idukki.

The newly identified species has been named Tetraenium manilalianum, in honour of Prof K S Manilal, noted botanist, founder president of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy and former head of the Department of Botany at Calicut University. Prof Manilal is also renowned for translating Hortus Malabaricus into Malayalam.

The discovery was made by a team comprising C Rekha, researcher at the Department of Botany, Devagiri College, Kozhikode; Amritha Sundaran, research student at the Botanical Survey of India’s Southern Regional Centre, Coimbatore; and Sujana, scientist and research guide, along with K Arjunan.

The plant, which bears white flowers and underground rhizomes, grows exclusively in the higher reaches of grass meadows near the Chola forests. It blooms only during the monsoon season.Details of the discovery have been published in the Nordic Journal of Botany, an international scientific journal based in Sweden.