In July 2025, Sri Lankan botanical science achieved a historic milestone with the publication of the monumental compendium Discovery: Additions to the Flora of Ceylon, authored by taxonomist Dr. Himesh Dilruwan Jayasinghe. Spanning over 650 pages and featuring more than 4,000 vivid photographs, this landmark work documented 210 newly discovered, rare, and rediscovered plant species, updating the island’s botanical records for the first time in decades. The publication revealed the extraordinary richness of Sri Lanka’s tropical rainforests and provided students, scientists, and conservationists with an essential modern guide to the island’s floral heritage.
This botanical renaissance was highlighted by an inspiring conservation triumph: the revival of the endemic rainforest tree Pini Beraliya (Doona ovalifolia). Officially declared “Extinct in the Wild” in the 2012 National Red List—with only a solitary known specimen surviving at the Peradeniya Royal Botanic Gardens—the species was miraculously rediscovered along remote riverbanks in Ayagama through citizen science and nature enthusiasts. Working alongside field botanists, local school students and rural youth groups helped propagate and replant hundreds of native saplings along river reserves, successfully rescuing a canopy-emergent giant from the brink of extinction and demonstrating the power of grassroots ecological stewardship.