Source: Times of India
Context A medicinal plant traditionally used in East Asian healthcare, Ophiopogon japonicus, has been recorded in India for the first time — discovered in West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh.
The Discovery
- Recorded at an elevation of 2,185 metres in West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh
- Documented by researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India (Dehradun) and the Uluberia Botanical Institute Herbarium, West Bengal
- Described as a significant find highlighting the biodiversity of the Eastern Himalaya
About the Species
- Common names: dwarf lilyturf, mondo grass, fountain plant, monkey grass
- Japanese names: ryū-no-hige (“dragon’s beard”) and ja-no-hige (“snake’s beard”)
- Family: Asparagaceae; order Asparagales — traditionally placed in the lily family, Liliaceae
- An evergreen, sod-forming, rhizomatous perennial
- Linear, grass-like leaves
- Has tuberous roots, which are the medicinally used part
Distribution
- Native to China, Japan, Korea, Nepal and Vietnam
- Now confirmed in India, widely grown as an ornamental ground-cover plant worldwide
