By TC News Desk
Agartala, 14th August 2025: Agartala: Mycetia malayana (Rubiaceae), a rare species of the genus Mycetia, has been recorded for the first time in India following a study near Kachari Waterfall in the Kanchanpur sub-division of Tripura’s North District.
The discovery was made by a research team comprising Dixit Bora and Prof. Badal Kumar Datta from the Department of Botany, Tripura University, and Dipankar Borah from Kaliabor College, Nagaon, Assam.
During a recent field visit to the Kachari Waterfall area, Dixit encountered two species of Mycetia — one of which was unfamiliar to him. After detailed taxonomic study and literature review, the team confirmed the specimen as Mycetia malayana, previously known only from Malaya, Borneo, Thailand, and more recently Bangladesh, and already extinct in Singapore.
“In India, eight Mycetia species were recorded earlier. This finding adds a ninth species to the country’s flora and marks the first-ever record from Tripura University’s Department of Botany,” Dixit said.
He shared that the discovery came after years of exploration across Tripura. “In the last five years, we have travelled extensively to different parts of the state, often encountering new plant species. Visiting Kachari Waterfall had been my dream since 2023, but due to poor connectivity, we couldn’t make it earlier,” he said.
The breakthrough came on May 26, 2025. “While exploring, I found Mycetia longiflora on one side of the waterfall and this unknown species on the other. After discussions with Dipankar and further analysis, we confirmed it as M. malayana,” he added.
Kachari Waterfall, he noted, remains one of Tripura’s most beautiful yet less explored natural sites, holding potential for more rare botanical discoveries in the future.
