From spectacular orchids to towering trees - 2018's top new plant discoveries
Last edited Tue Dec 25, 2018, 08:55 PM - Edit history (1)
Around the world, species hunters unearth 128 vascular plants and 44 species of fungi, many already facing extinction
Patrick Barkham
@patrick_barkham
Fri 21 Dec 2018 01.01 EST
A spectacular orchid sold from a barrow in a Laos market, a flower which may contain cancer-fighting chemicals, and a tall tree found beside an African highway, are among more than 100 plants that were newly discovered by science in 2018. But experts warn it is a “race against time” to discover many new species before they become extinct.
Species hunters scouring the globe for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and its partners, this year found about 128 vascular plants and 44 species of fungi.
The plants new to science include a species of allspice (used around the world in a variety of dishes), an insect-eating pitcher plant, a climbing species of yam, and an edible “hedgehog mushroom”.
The largest organism newly listed by Kew this year is the Talbotiella cheekii, a rainforest tree which can grow up to 24 metres and which has fruit in exploding pods. Once thought to be common, it is endangered in Guinea, west Africa, because of clearance of the remaining fragments of rainforest on the coastal plain. Specimens bearing the lurid pink flowers – needed to fully identify the species – were found in 2017 beside the N1 highway just 28 miles from the centre of the capital, Conakry.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/21/from-spectacular-orchids-to-towering-trees-2018s-top-new-plant-discoveries
