The rediscovered plants, Impatiens concinna, Impatiens sasidharanii, Impatiens sasidharanii var hirsute and Impatiens neo-modesta, are found to have great medicinal value.

Even without the medicinal value component of this discovery, we would consider this good news:

Four ‘extinct’ plant species rediscovered

Four species of Impatiens (Kasi Thumba) plants believed to have gone extinct were rediscovered from the Western Ghats recently.

A team of researchers led by K.M. Prabhukumar and Indira Balachandran, taxonomist and director respectively of the Centre for Medicinal Plants Research, Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, made the rediscovery during explorations at Dhoni Hills of Palakkad and Nelliampathy.

The rediscovered plants, Impatiens concinna, Impatiens sasidharanii, Impatiens neo-modesta , andImpatiens sasidharanii var hirsuta , were found to have great medicinal values.

Dr. Prabhukumar said that the Impatiens varieties of plants were found largely in tropical Asian and African regions. The four rediscovered species were believed to have gone extinct many decades ago. These plants were heavily dependent on the tropical rains. “It is possible that any slight change in weather could sound the death knell for these plants. They are so sensitive to climate,” he said.

According to the researchers, these plants, usually found 2,000 ft above sea level, are short-lived and will be seen only one quarter of a year…

Read the whole story here.