Story of the “Binara Plant”

You could say that “Blue” is not a very common colour in Nature, especially among flowers. And that's why Belle, from “Beauty and the Beast”, asks her father to bring a “Blue Rose” from his travels … blue flowers are pretty special…. Behold the beautiful Binara, a bright blue flower on a slender herbaceous plant endemic to Sri Lanka. 

Known locally as “Ginihiriya” this plant grows to about 1m in height -  at an altitude of 2000m. Binara (Genus: Exaccum) boasts of eight species and bears a four-sided stem and its colours vary from shades of white, dark blue to hues of purple. These flowers are offered for worship in Buddhist temples and also used in Sri Lankan traditional medicine (known as Ayurvedic medicine).

Literally speaking, an “Endemic Plant” is one that is found or grows in a specific area or habitat. In this respect,  Endemic Plants of Sri Lanka are those that are found growing exclusively in Sri Lanka and nowhere else in the world. Little do we realise the long process of evolution it takes, for endemic plants to survive in a specific area under unique environmental conditions.

Unfortunately, any disturbances or changes to these specific environmental conditions of any form, would eliminate these plants not only from the Sri Lankan wilderness but from the entire world’s biodiversity - forever. According to researchers, there are 850 endemic flowering plant species recorded from Sri Lanka about 230 could be considered as threatened (i.e. endangered, vulnerable or rare), which is truly a tragedy. 

And the Genus: Exaccum is, sadly,on the top of the list.

It is rare to come across  a plant species believed to be extinct, to be later found to be ‘not’.And excitingly, this is exactly what happened with one of the species of Binara, namely “Exacum Pedunculatum '' which was rediscovered in 1988 in the Naulla area - a species considered to be extinct for more than a century!   Pretty cool … don’t you think? 

And now, we are thrilled to hear that they have discovered another endemic species of this beautiful plant in the Ahaspokuna Wildlife Tented Camp premises in Belihuloya - in the misty hills of the Sabaragamuwa Province. While you are on your nature excursions,  you will definitely notice them. The mini-nature reserve concept at this location has allowed many endemic species to flourish and this is indeed a gem we found surviving at the camp premises.

Out of the eight species of Exacum found in Sri Lanka, it is  the Exacum Trinervium Macranthum -one of the five endangered species - which has been identified at the camp. The Blue Binara was fairly common to be sighted in the moist areas of the highlands, in the southeastern part of the Central Province - a few decades ago, but sadly… not anymore.

You may be surprised to know that this plant is not protected under Section 42 or section 45 of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO). Fortunately, the plant enjoys limited protection under the Forest Conservation Ordinance (FCO). This states  that the habitat from where the plant has been recorded needs to be protected as soon as possible and it's truly wonderful to see that the naturalists of Ahaspokuna Bushwalk Camp are in the process of doing so. 

The threat of the Binara Plants being destroyed from their known and recorded habitats due to various reasons has got the attention of many environmental groups which are now in the process of conserving and protecting the species, islandwide.