Ceropegia Nambiyana, a new plant species named after Malayali researcher

A new plant belonging to apocynaceae family has ben christened ‘Cerepegia Nambiyana’, in honour of Professor Santhosh Nambi, head of Calicut University Directorate of Research. He spotted the species at Ponkunnumala in Nanmanda, outskirts of Kozhikode, in Kerala, India. The plant is known as Nagahtumpa, Nottanodan Valli or Thammanam Kizhangu .

An article on the discovery was published in the new volume of the International Journal of Advanced Research. The flowers of the plant resembles lanterns . There are 66 species of plants belonging to Ceropegia genus found in India. Of them, 46 are found in the Western Ghats, twenty-two plants including the new one have been found in Kerala. The research team included Assistant professor Manudev, Botany Department, Devagiri St Joseph’s College, Dr Sharat Kamble, Goa University and Dr Pramod and PS Prakash, Botany Department, Brennen College, Thalassery.