Researchers have   a population of an extremely rare plant species, last recorded in Sri Lanka in 1855, growing in a lowland forest fragment along the Sitawaka Ganga River. Documenting the finding in a recent study, researchers write that the plant, Indianthus virgatus, while officially listed as critically endangered in Sri Lanka, was presumed possibly extinct in the wild in the country. I. virgatus, which has small white flowers, grows in the understory of wet tropical forests. It’s known from some 150 locations in India, but the only verified record of the plant in Sri Lanka is from a specimen collected in 1855, the study says. Using a combination of historical records across India and Sri Lanka, and predictive habitat modeling to identify potential habitats, researchers looked for the plant in southwestern Sri Lanka, in Sabaragamuwa Province. In January 2025, the research team successfully located a small population of I. virgatus of 70 to 100 individuals. This population was found in an area that researchers had predicted to be highly suitable for the species. I. virgatus, which is the only species within the Indianthus genus, has unique evolutionary and biogeographical context, said Vivek Pandi, coauthor of the study and assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India. The species has a disjunct occurrence across the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka, Pandi told Mongabay by email, meaning populations of the species are separated by a large geographical gap. This raises an intriguing question, he added,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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