''Pogostemon rajendranii'' is a short,

lithophytic Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...

herb from the genus ''

Pogostemon ''Pogostemon'' is a large genus from the family Lamiaceae, first described as a genus in 1815. It is native to warmer parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia. The best known member of this genus is patchouli, ''Pogostemon cablin'', widely cultivat ...

'' and

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

''Allopogostemon''. It was discovered in the Thalai Kundah region of the Nilgiri Mountains,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and appears to be endemic to that area. It is closely related to '' Pogostemon vestitus'', from the same region.

Description

''Pogostemon rajendranii'' grows up to 10-15 cm tall. Its stems have distinctive pinkish hairs that turn golden-yellow when dry. It has white flowers that occur as an

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

, of up to 3.5cm long. As a

lithophyte Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are also ...

, it grows on dry rock crevices. Going by its exclusive discovery in Thalai Kundah, which is at an

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

of 2209m, it is currently thought to prefer the distinctive Tropical Montane Forests and Montane Tropical Climate of that region. It has currently not been found in any other region.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q92427438 rajendranii Endemic flora of the Western Ghats Nilgiris district