Green Ahalia covers the second known location of distribution of Elaeocarpus gadgilii

Along with Victoria College Botany Alumni Association Mr. Midhun and Dr. Haridasan visited the Shiruvani Ecotourism area on 8th February to understand the phenological events of major trees and other elements in canopy. This proved to be a boon for our efforts, as we could not only locate the second population of Elaeocarpus gadgilii (a wild relative of the Rudhraksha tree) reported so far from Nelliyampathi which we were aware of this endemic species till then. With this, our understanding of the habitat preference of the species could be better elucidated. Further, we did a transect walk along Kerala Medu hill to know the phytosociological features. Luckily, we observed few trees in fruiting and a few with inflorescence. Midhun could collect herbarium specimens of this and other interesting species. Few wildings of plants from this area for introduction to our garden is a bonus in this trip.