Two new species of balsams (impatiens) have been discovered by the officials from the shola forests on the periphery of the Eravikulam National Park and Mankulam with the help of scientists.
The Munnar-Mankulam landscape is famous for impatiens varieties, one of which was Impatiens travancorica that was spotted sometime ago.
One of the new plants, Impatiens panduranganii , was first noticed in 2015 by Prasad G., wildlife warden of Munnar, during a research on impatiens in the Pettimudi area. It is similar to Impatiens travancorica.
Only below 35 plants with flower could be found in 2015. In 2016, when Prabhu Kumar of Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala visited Munnar, there were about 200 and 300 of the plants, which were named Impatiens panduranganii.
Eravikulam National Park is a national park located along the Western Ghats in the Idukki district of Kerala in India. It is the first national park in Kerala.