Idukki; By setting off to Meesapulimala, they weren’t trying to go viral with another off-road adventure video. Instead, braving the chilly dawn winds, they explored the mountain’s hidden biodiversity and made the remarkable discovery of two new plant species.

One of the plants, belonging to the Louresia family under the Gin Berry (Kuttippanal) group, has been named Litsia Meesapulimalayana, while the second has been named Litsia Idukkiyana. Meesapulimala, Kerala’s second-highest mountain range, forms part of the biodiverse Western Ghats and lies adjacent to the Kolukkumal estate in Munnar. It rises to an altitude of 2,661 meters above sea level. These plants are naturally found only in high-altitude shola forests.

The new species have been indetified by Dr A J Roby, Assistant Professor in the Department of Botany at Bishop Abraham Memorial College, Thuruthikkad and plant researcher Revathi Vijayasharma of St Thomas College in Kozhencherry. Whether the newly discovered species has medicinal properties similar to the traditionally used Gin Berry (Kuttippanal) plants will be the subject of further study, they said.