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{{Short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Strobilanthes parryorum specimen (1928).jpg
| image_caption = Specimen collected by botanist Annie Dunnet Parry from Darzo village in the Lushai Hills in 1928
| status =
| status_system =
| status_ref =
| genus = Strobilanthes
| species = parryorum
| authority = [[Cecil Ernest Claude Fischer|C.E.C.Fisch]]
}}

'''''Strobilanthes parryorum''''' is a flowering plant of ''[[Strobilanthes]]'' genus native to [[Northeast India]] and [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]] in the [[Indo-Burma]] biodiversity hotspot. It was first described by botanist [[Cecil Ernest Claude Fischer]] from specimens provided by botanist [[Annie Dunnet Parry]] from the [[Lushai Hills]].

== Taxonomy ==
British botanist [[Annie Dunnet Parry]] collected the plant specimen from present-day [[Mizoram]] at 1400m above sea level in March 1927.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Record: Herbarium:K000883146 {{!}} Occurrence record {{!}} Kew data portal |url=https://records.data.kew.org/occurrences/4aac06c0-ae9a-4ce5-a6a3-ca519ddd4383?lang=en-GB |access-date=2025-11-25 |website=records.data.kew.org}}</ref> She lived there when her husband [[Neville Edward Parry]] who was posted as the superintendent of the Lushai Hills during the British colonial rule.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Goswami |first=Roopak |date=2025-10-29 |title=Rare plant rediscovered after 96 years in Mizoram Hills |url=http://eastmojo.com/mizoram/2025/10/29/rare-plant-rediscovered-after-96-years-in-mizoram-hills/ |access-date=2025-11-25 |website=EastMojo |language=en-US}}</ref> Fischer first described the species in 1928 from Parry's collection and named it in her honour ''S. parryorum''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Fischer |first=Cecil Ernest Claude |author-link=Cecil Ernest Claude Fischer |date=1928 |title=Strobilanthes parryorum |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.18634/page/141/mode/2up |journal=[[Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information]] |volume=1928 |issue=4 |pages=142-143}}</ref> By 1938, Fisher identified 19 other taxa from the genus ''[[Strobilanthes]]''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Lalawmpuii |first=Lucy |last2=Lalnunfeli |first2=Renthlei |last3=Richard |first3=Paulraj Selva Singh |last4=Yadav |first4=Pochamoni Bharath Simha |last5=Karuppusamy |first5=Subbiah |last6=Lalchhandama |first6=Kholhring |date=2025-10-26 |title=The rediscovery of C.E.C.Fisch., 1928 (Asterids: Lamiales: Acanthaceae) in Mizoram, India |url=https://www.threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/9634 |journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa |volume=17 |issue=10 |pages=27771–27776 |doi=10.11609/jott.9634.17.10.27771-27776 |issn=0974-7907|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The ''S. parryorum'' specimen collected is now stored at the [[Kew Gardens|Kew Gardens' Herbarium]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Strobilanthes parryorum C.E.C.Fisch |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:55860-1 |access-date=2025-11-25 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref> Until 2025, it was one of the only two known stored specimens in the world.<ref name=":0" /> The second specimen was collected by botanist Md. Salar Khan of the [[University of Dhaka]] in 1965 from the [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]]; now stored at the herbarium of [[Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh]].<ref name=":3" /> Khan was instrumental in starting the [[National Botanical Garden of Bangladesh|Bangladesh National Herbarium]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Khan, Md Salar - Banglapedia |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Khan,_Md_Salar |access-date=2025-11-25 |website=en.banglapedia.org |language=en}}</ref> A third set of specimens collected in 2025 is stored in [[Madras Christian College|Madras Christian College's]] Department of Botany's herbarium in Chennai.<ref name=":3" />

== Description ==
''Strobilanthes parryorum'' is a tall shrub with smooth branches, glabrous below and brown-tomentose above.<ref name=":2" /> The shrub can grow up to 2.5m.<ref name=":3" /> The leaves are ovate-elliptic, denticulate, acuminate, acute at base, 2-21 cm. They are 4-11 cm in length.<ref name=":2" /> It flowers and fruits from October to January.<ref name=":3" />

In 2003 botanists John Richard Ironside Wood and Robert W. Scotland proposed that ''S. parryorum'' was possibly a subspecies of [[Strobilanthes denticulata]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Wood |first=J. R. I. |last2=Scotland |first2=R. W. |date=2009 |title=New and little-known species of Strobilanthes (Acanthaceae) from India and South East Asia |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12225-009-9098-2 |journal=Kew Bulletin |language=en |volume=64 |issue=1 |pages=3–47 |doi=10.1007/s12225-009-9098-2 |issn=0075-5974|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, the differences of ''S. parryorum'' from ''S. denticulata'' were found to be notable and discernible. These included the larger [[bract]]s and number of calyx lobes. In addition, they are found in different parts of Indo-Burma hotspot.<ref name=":3" />

== Distribution and habitat ==
The native and known distribution of the ''S. parryorum'' remains the Northeastern region of India.<ref name=":1" /> More specifically, it is found in Mizoram and the contiguous [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]], i.e., the [[Arakan Mountains]].<ref name=":3" />

Parry collected her specimen from [[Darzo]] village in the Lushai Hills. She had also noted the plant in other villages around, namely Chhingchhip and [[Serkawn]], in addition to the peak [[Phawngpui]].<ref name=":4" /> In 2025 the species was once again recorded after 96 years by a group of botanists led by Lucy Lalawmpuii and Kholhring Lalchhandama from [[Pachhunga University College]] in Aizawl. This specimen was found near Ailawng village which is around 200km north of Darzo.<ref name=":0" />

== Threats ==
Habitat loss, deforestation, shifting cultivation, and new plantations could threaten the survival of the species.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q17681937}}

[[Category:Strobilanthes|parryorum]]
[[Category:Flora of Assam (region)]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1928]]

Strobilanthes parryorum - Revision history

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