Myristica swamps cover just 0.004% of Kerala yet hold 16.3% of the Western Ghats' endemic species

Background

Myristica swamps are freshwater swamps of the Southern Western Ghats dominated by Myristica, a genus of primitive evergreen trees (wild nutmeg).
The botanist and forest officer Krishnamurthy first documented them in the 1960s at Kulathupuzha, Shendurney and Anchal in the Travancore forests; Champion and Seth classified them as "wild swamps" in 1968.
They lie in low-lying evergreen forest that stays waterlogged all year, and the trees have stilt roots and pneumatophores (breathing roots).
They cover just 0.004% of Kerala's land area yet harbour 16.3% of the endemic species of the Western Ghats.
Notable areas include Kulathupuzha, Shendurney, Arippa, Madathara, Palode and Anchal.