Meghalaya's reputation as one of India's biodiversity hotspots has received another boost, with scientists reporting five significant fungal discoveries from the state in the latest Botanical Discoveries of India-2025, including a new genus, two species new to science and two fungi recorded in India for the first time.
In a remarkable botanical rediscovery from Meghalaya, scientists have traced a rare flowering plant believed to have disappeared from India for over a century, finding it again in the mist-laden Khasi Hills after a gap of 138 years.
In a remarkable botanical breakthrough for Meghalaya, a rare orchid unseen in the state for 127 years has bloomed again — thanks to the patient fieldwork of Dr N. Odyuo of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong.
Meghalaya’s rich natural heritage has received a fresh scientific boost with the discovery of a rare flowering plant species, Hypericum benghalense, in the outskirts of Shillong.
Scientists have confirmed that Aquilaria khasiana—a Critically Endangered, agarwood-producing species once thought endemic to Meghalaya—is also found in Assam’s Jeypore Reserve Forest.
A recent survey conducted by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) in the Garo Hills region has sparked controversy after members of the Achik Underground Exploration Society (AUES) discovered orchids in the possession of the BSI team, despite their permission being limited to a ‘microfungal’ survey.
