Researchers from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) and the University of Goa have discovered a new species of Indian Muraingrass along the Western Ghats of Goa. This species has been named Ischaemum janarthanamii (named after M K Janarthanam, senior professor of Botany at Goa University, honored for his contributions in Indian grass taxonomy and documentation of Goa’s floristic diversity). It is of high economic value and is used as fodder, thus making it ecologically important too. The newfound species has adapted to harsh environmental conditions, low nutrient availability, and blossoms every monsoon. This species was first collected in 2017 monsoon and was kept under observation for the next three years to check the consistency of its characters. Western Ghats are one of the four global biodiversity hotspots of India with the highest concentration of the genus (40 species out of 85 species of Ischaemum are found here).
