Guwahati: In a discovery that highlights Assam’s rich biodiversity, botanists from Gauhati University have identified a new plant species from the grasslands of Manas National Park and named it after Assamese music icon Zubeen Garg.The newly identified species, Osbeckia Zubeengargiana, belongs to the Melastomataceae family and was documented by researchers Barnali Das, Namita Nath along with Prasobh Pulpra from NSS college in Kerala, in a recent study published in a scientific journal ‘Phytotaxa’. The researchers discovered the plant during botanical surveys conducted between 2021 and 2025 in the grasslands of the national park in Assam’s Baksa district.“According to the study, the plant is a perennial shrub that grows up to 2.5-3.5 metres tall and produces clusters of pink flowers. Although similar, but it marks few differences from Osbeckia Rostrata….,” said Nath.The discovery adds to the known diversity of the genus ‘Osbeckia’, which includes more than 40 species distributed mainly across South and Southeast Asia.The flowers measure roughly 2.5 to 3 cm in length and bloom between mid-Sept and Jan.Although a large population of the plant was observed during the survey, scientists have currently classified its conservation status as “Data Deficient” under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
