Context: Recently, a team of researchers from India and the Philippines discovered 15-metre tall tree that belongs to the genus of the coffee family named " Pyrostria laljii ".

About Pyrostria laljii 

• The new species, Pyrostria laljii is new to science, and also the first record of the genus Pyrostria in India.
• Plants belonging to genus Pyrostria are usually found in Madagascar but the recently discovered species is new to science.
• Pyrostria laljii has been assessed as ‘Critically Endangered’ based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List criteria.
• It has been discovered by the researchers from the Botanical Survey of India, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapuram, and University of the East, Manila, Philippines.
• The species has been named Pyrostria laljii after Lal Ji Singh, Joint Director and Head of Office, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India.

Importance

• The discovery is unique as the species is a big tree and yet had not been recorded as a new species.
• “While the genus Pyrostria is not found in India, there are several genera from the family Rubiaceae that are common in India.
• These plants, including cinchona, coffee, adina, hamelia, ixora, galium, gardenia, mussaenda, rubia, morinda, have high potential for economic value.

Additional Information
New pokeweed species

• Researchers  also discovered a new species of pokeweed named Rivina andamanensis. 
• “This discovery of new species, representing the first record of the pokeweed family Petiveriaceae in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, adds one more family to the islands’ flora,”.
• A&N Islands is a group of 572 islands and islets that are rich and unique in terms of plant diversity in India. 
• The total number of listed flora on the islands is approximately 3,410 plant species under 1,281 genera and 303 families belonging to Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Pteridophytes, Bryophytes, and Lichens.