Guwahati, Sept. 17 -- A tiny, elusive orchid that spends much of its life hidden beneath the forest floor has been formally recognised as a new species from Arunachal Pradesh, adding another rare plant to the biodiversity of the Eastern Himalaya.

Named Gastrodia keyiensis, the new orchid was discovered during a botanical survey in a remote river gorge along the Keyi River in Keyi Panyor district.

The species was formally described in a paper published in Phytotaxa.

The study was authored by Madhusudhan Khanal, Dipankar Borah, Shuvadip Sarkar, Neelam Gap, Santosh Kumar Rai and Devendra Kumar, affiliated with the G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Sikkim University, Kaliabor College, the Botanical Survey of India and ...