June 9, 2022: After more than a century, researchers from the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have rediscovered a rare plant that is sometimes termed the ‘Indian lipstick plant’. The plant is found in the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Aeschynanthus Monetaria Dunn plant was initially identified by the British botanist Stephen Troyte Dunn in 1912 on the basis of plant samples gathered from Arunachal Pradesh by Isaac Henry Burkill, another English botanist.

Botanical Survey of India (BSI) scientist Krishna Chowla wrote an article on his discovery which was published in Current Science Journal. In his article, he said, “Due to the appearance of tubular red corolla, some of the species under the genus Aeschynanthus are called lipstick plants.”