Guwahati: Scientists in Manipur have found a new species of Cherry Blossom. They have named it “Prunus Dinabandhuana” to honour scientist the contributions of scientist Dr Dinabandhu Sahoo.
Cherry Blossom or Sakura is the national flower of Japan. India became the 28th country in the world to be included in the Sakura map.
According to scientists, in November 2016, Dr Sahoo, a professor at the Department of Botany under University of Delhi, planned and organised India’s first Cherry Blossom Festival in Shillong that attracted lakhs of people and subsequently it became an international event, being held for the last six years.
The plants grow up to 25-30 meters in dense mixed evergreen forest and unlike Japanese Cherry Blossom, which blooms during March-April, this new species bloom in November.
The new findings were recently published in the latest issue of a International scientific journal Annales Botanici Fennici.
In 2014, Dr Sahoo while visiting Shillong saw a Cherry Blossom tree in full bloom in the city. He then thought of launching a Cherry Blossom Festival in India.
Dr Sahoo, who was the first Indian student to visit Antarctica in 1987, said he found that Cherry Blossom is native to the Himalayas
