Meghalaya: Flora and Fauna
It is inspired by our poem, The Laburnum Top.
Hello there, you travel-curious soul, you! Welcome to my blog, and thank you for stopping by! I’m Radhika Agarwal from India. Travelling to Meghalaya can be one of the most enthralling and spell bounding experiences you can ever take up in your life. Experiencing the holidays in Meghalaya is something out of this world, both in terms of the rich blend of experience, natural endowment of flora and fauna, caves, wildlife species, waterfalls and above all, butterflies.
Especially for rain lovers, Meghalaya also known as the ‘abode of clouds’ offers the very best of memories.
Now lets talk about the floral diversity of Meghalaya. Do you know Meghalaya is also known as Cradle of Flowering Plants due to the presence of large number of primitive flowering plants!. Also a wide variety of wild cultivable plants, edible fruits, leafy vegetables and orchids are found in the natural forests of Meghalaya.
Michelia lanuginose, Dendrobenthamia capitata, Nymphaea pygmaea, Schleichera trijuga, Sterculia are considered to have gone extinct in Meghalaya. Can you believe it? just look at those beautiful flora on the left how beautiful were they:((
Overexploitation stills continues making Ilex khasiana and Nepenthes khasiana the Endemic and Critically Endangered species. Some of the Endemic and Endangered species found in Meghalaya are Ceropegia , Clematis apiculata,Eriocaulon , Ophiorrhiza subcapitata . I would like to quote Edwin Curran “flowers are the music of the ground from the earths lips spoken without sound” so lets embrace this sound instead of suppressing it.
Oh I forget to tell you people that Meghalaya is endowed with a rich and luxuriant orchid flora of nearly 352 species (OMG!) .For several centuries, orchids have been known for their attractive flowers and their medicinal properties. The majority of the orchids are epiphytes, however, lithophytes, terrestrials and saprophytes are also encountered. Aerides , Cymbidium elegans, Dendrobiumdevonianum,Paphiopedilum insigne, and Vanda coerulea are few of the exotic orchids of Meghalaya.
After discovering the magnificent flora lets dive into knowing the wildlife of Meghalaya. The rare and highly endangered Clouded Leopard is the State Animal. Hoolock Gibbon, the only Ape found in India and Capped Langur both globally endangered species are also found in the State. Meghalaya is home to a large population of the Asiatic elephant — in fact, it falls in between a large elephant corridor that stretches to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in the north.
I am assured that all of us have seen squirrels eating nuts or just running around. I was thought that they are tiny and cute but i got amazed when a saw the giant squirrel of Meghalaya( its sooo big!).
Meghalaya is also known for its population of birds. The Siju Bird Sanctuary, located close to the mighty Simsang River is home to peacock pheasants and grey hornbills amongst many other species. Nongkhyllem Sanctuary, in the Ri Bhoi district, is home to a large number of bird species (more than 400 recorded).
Every year migratory flocks of Teals, Pintails, and Cormorant (great cormorant) visit the State.
So here we come to end of our blog. i hope you enjoyed reading and was fascinated with pictures. If you enjoyed reading clap for me :) by using clap icon at bottom. See you in the next blog!
