A very rare carnivorous plant species called Utricularia Furcellata has been found in the western Himalayan region for the first time, a senior official said on Saturday. The research wing of the Uttarakhand Forest department discovered a rare carnivorous plant species Utricularia Furcellata, which has been published in ‘the Journal of Japanese botany’.
A team of the Research Wing of the Uttarakhand forest department, consisting of Range officer Harish Negi and Junior Research Fellow (JRF) Manoj Singh discovered this Utricularia Furcellata in the Mandal valley in September 2021. The Mandal valley is situated at an altitude of 4,800 feet.
Uttarakhand | In significant finding, research wing of Uttarakhand Forest department discovered rare carnivorous plant Utricularia Furcellata, in Mandal valley of Chamoli. This is 1st such recording in entire western Himalayan region said Chief Conservator of Forest (Research) pic.twitter.com/ewX4zPRgGP
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) June 26, 2022
For the first time, the forest department officials in India’s snowbound state Uttarakhand have discovered an ultra-rare carnivorous plant in the western Himalayan region. The plant was last seen in the country in northeastern Meghalaya state in 1986.
Carnivorous plants which generally grow on poor nutrient soil have aroused new interest in the scientific community across the world because of their potential medicinal benefits, the official said. The plant belongs to a genus, commonly known as bladderworts, which uses one of the most sophisticated and developed plant structures for traps and its targets range from protozoa to insects, mosquito larvae, and even the young tadpoles. This revelation comes as a part of a project study of insectivorous plants in Uttarakhand.
“It is the first sighting of the plant not only in Uttarakhand but in the entire western Himalayan region,” Chief Conservator of Forest (Research) Sanjiv Chaturvedi.
However, the species face threat due to heavy biotic pressure because of being at a tourist spot. Its operation is simply based on a mechanical process, that is by creating a vacuum or negative pressure area to draw prey inside the trap door. These plants are mostly found in fresh water and wet soil. They have a completely distinct manner of arranging food and nutrition through intelligent trap mechanisms, as compared to the photosynthesis mode of normal plants.
This was the first such comprehensive study in the State and so far, around 20 plant species belonging to the genus Drosera, Utricularia, and Pinguicula have been found.
It is a proud moment for the Uttarakhand forest department as it is the first discovery by it which has been published in a prestigious journal, he said. The discovery was part of a project study of insectivorous plants in Uttarakhand. This carnivorous plant belongs to a genus which is commonly known as bladderworts, Chaturvedi said. “It uses one of the most sophisticated and developed plant structures for trap and the targets range from protozoa to insects, mosquito larvae, and even young tadpoles,” he said.
