Sat Aug 16 10:17:28 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a summarized news article based on the provided text:
**Summary:**
A new palm species, *Phoenix roxburghii*, has been identified in India by researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). The discovery stems from revisiting observations made in the 17th-century botanical treatise *Hortus Malabaricus*. The team has also reclassified several existing *Phoenix* species, including confirming that the *Katou-Indel* described in the *Hortus Malabaricus* is indeed *Phoenix sylvestris*, and reclassifying *P. pusilla, P. farinifera* and *P. zeylanica* into *Phoenix sylvestris*. *Phoenix roxburghii*, named after the “father of Indian Botany” William Roxburgh, grows up to 16 meters tall and is found on India’s eastern coast and Bangladesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Pakistan. It differs from *Phoenix sylvestris* by its height, larger leaves and leaflets, musty-scented flowers, and larger fruits.
**News Article:**
**New Palm Species Discovered in India, Rewriting Botanical History**
*THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, August 16, 2025* – Indian botanists have identified a new species of palm tree, *Phoenix roxburghii*, in a discovery that revisits centuries-old botanical observations. Researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) in Thiruvananthapuram and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) in Kolkata made the finding during a study of the palm described as *Katou-Indel* in the *Hortus Malabaricus*, the monumental 17th-century work documenting the flora of the Malabar coast.
The newly identified *Phoenix roxburghii*, named after William Roxburgh, often called the father of Indian Botany, is found on India’s eastern coast, as well as in Bangladesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Pakistan. The species can grow to heights of 12 to 16 meters, significantly taller than *Phoenix sylvestris*. According to the research paper published in *Phytotaxa*, other distinguishing characteristics include larger leaves and leaflets, musty-scented staminate flowers, and larger, obovoid orange-yellow fruits.
The research also led to the reclassification of several existing palm species. The team confirmed that the *Katou-Indel* described in the *Hortus Malabaricus* is indeed *Phoenix sylvestris*, which is native to Kerala and Sri Lanka. Additionally, three other *Phoenix* species – *P. pusilla, P. farinifera,* and *P. zeylanica* – have been reclassified as *Phoenix sylvestris*.
“What prompted us to take a closer look was an observation made by the 19th-century Botanist William Griffith that, ‘the fruits figured in Hortus Malabaricus (3: t 22–25) is very much smaller and of a different shape than it is in Bengal, at least in uninjured trees,” said E.S. Santhosh Kumar of the JNTBGRI, one of the authors of the paper.
This discovery underscores the enduring value of historical botanical texts like the *Hortus Malabaricus*, which was compiled by Hendrik van Rheede, the Governor of Dutch Malabar, with the help of local knowledge. This serves as a vital resource for modern botanical research and taxonomy. The JNTBGRI-BSI research team’s work highlights the ongoing importance of documenting and understanding plant biodiversity.
First Piper 