Itanagar, May 26: In a significant contribution to Himalayan plant diversity, researchers have discovered three new species of Berberis from Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang and West Kameng districts.
The newly identified deciduous species — Berberis pseudovirescens, Berberis orbicularis and Berberis tawangensis — have been described as new to science in a study published in the 2026 edition of the Nordic Society Oikos journal Nordic Journal of Botany.
The study was carried out by scientists Bipankar Hajong and Pankaj Bharali from CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), Jorhat.
According to the study, the discoveries highlight the rich yet underexplored biodiversity of the Eastern Himalaya and form part of an ongoing taxonomic investigation of Berberis species in Arunachal Pradesh, which is increasingly being recognised as an important hotspot for diversification within the genus.
The scientists stated that the three species are distinguished from closely related taxa through a combination of vegetative, floral and genomic characteristics. These include differences in leaf morphology, inflorescence structure, sepal and petal traits, gland shape, ovule number and berry morphology.
While Berberis pseudovirescens is closely related to B. virescens, Berberis orbicularis shares similarities with B. cooperi, and Berberis tawangensis resembles B. thomsoniana. However, each species possesses stable diagnostic and genomic features supporting their recognition as distinct species.
The study also expands the known distribution of Himalayan Berberis, with Berberis orbicularis additionally reported from Bhutan and southern Tibet based on herbarium records and photographic evidence.
All three species have currently been assessed as “Data Deficient” under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines due to limited information regarding their population size and distribution.
The researchers noted that the discoveries underline the urgent need for continued botanical exploration and conservation efforts in the fragile subalpine ecosystems of the Eastern Himalaya, which they described as a potential hotspot for Berberis diversity in the Indian Eastern Himalaya.