About Mitrephora rashmiae:
- It is a new species of flowering tree.
- It was discovered in the remote forests of Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district.
- It belongs to the custard apple family.
- It is only the second species of the Mitrephora genus ever recorded from the Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot.
- It is also the first known species in the genus to bear both male and bisexual flowers on the same tree, making it unique from a scientific perspective.
- Mitrephora rashmiae can be identified by its pale-yellow flowers marked with purple stripes and a unique dome-shaped floral structure formed by the inner petals.
- It is currently known from a single tree in the wild. Only one seven-metre-tall tree has been located, growing beside a stream in a degraded forest patch.
- As no additional specimens have been found, scientists have classified the species as “Data Deficient”.
