Patna, Nov. 14 : A bureaucrat in Patna, Anjani Kumar Singh, has earned a unique distinction for collecting over 7,000 species of Cycus plant from different parts of the country and world.

Though deputed as secretary in Bihar government’s Human Resource and Art and Culture Department, Kumar’s love for the plants of Cycus and Succulent family knows no bounds.

"I have approximately 7,000 species, for example, Haworthia, Aloe, Agae, Euphorbia and the ones which form Cordex. I have a collection of about 10,000 such plants, " claimed Anjani Kumar Singh.

His huge collection includes a number of plants from India as well as from other countries of the world including Mexico, Madagascar and South Africa as well.

It’s been 35 years when Anjani Kumar first started collecting plants. He has visited many deserts as these regions are known for Cycus and its varieties. He has added 125 varieties from Madagascar alone.

Anjani Kumar’s objective in collecting these plants has been an attempt to preserve various endangered species and inspiring others for the same.

Kumar’s collection is open to all plant lovers, as it is also intended to create awareness about these plants and need to conserve them.

"Here plants are of rare variety, common plants are less. Every group (of the collection) has rare plants. One can get a lot of information about plants and can see new plants here, " said Khaitan, a visitor.

The collection is meticulously looked after not just by Anjani Kumar but also by his professor wife, who herself has immense love for flora. She has collected more than 500 foliage plants. (ANI)