Wayanad: A parasitic plant thought to have gone extinct has been rediscovered after 175 years in the Thollayiram forest region of Wayanad. The species, Cambellia orantriaca, which belongs to the Orobanchaceae family, survives for only a few weeks. The newly spotted specimen was found in bloom, drawing nutrients from the roots of Kurinji (Strobilanthes) plants.

The plant was identified by a team of researchers: Salim Pichen of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation; Dr Jose Mathew, P T Arun Raj, and Dr V N Sanjay, who are botanists from S D College, Alappuzha; and B Gopallawa, a researcher from Sri Lanka.

The species was first collected before 1849 by botanist Robert Wight from Naduvattam in Tamil Nadu. Since then, it has never been sighted again.

The new discovery has been published in the latest edition of Kew Bulletin, the journal of the Royal Botanic Gardens, London. The plant was found within a five-kilometre radius of the landslide-hit Chooralmala–Mundakkai region.