Researchers in Sri Lanka have described a new-to-science species of flowering plant, categorizing it as critically endangered because of its small and declining population and restricted range.

COLOMBO — Every dozen years or so, Sri Lanka’s mist-shrouded highlands burst into color. Violet, pink and white carpets of tiny blooms spread across the grasslands of the Horton Plains and other hill ...

The flower has developed a deep national importance, but what exactly it signifies depends on whom you ask. By Aatish Taseer Photographs by Alex Majoli IN ONE SWIFT movement, Asoka swung his machete ...