THE BEST PLANT AND Fungus FINDS OF 2018
Some 13 new species of plant and fungi have been highlighted among the discoveries this year by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
They are:
- A new genus of plant with bizarre pillar-like structures was found in a waterfall in the Sewa River rapids in Sierra Leone (Lebbiea grandiflora), and was immediately classified as critically endangered due to threats from mining and a hydro-electric project.
- An extremely showy slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum papilio-laoticus), which was discovered in Laos, after it was first found on the black market in the capital Vientiane, and is considered to be an "outstanding but gravely endangered" species.
Another orchid (Bulbophyllum adolinae), a delicate species from the mountains of New Guinea, was named after Mrs Juliana Adolina Mandacan, the wife of the Governor of West Papua, Indonesia, and featured on a new bank card issued by a local bank.
- A new species of Allspice tree (Pimenta berciliae) has been found restricted to a small area of the northern mountains of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, and is closely related to the commercially important Allspice tree species.
- Two species of morning glory were recorded in Bolivia, one of which (Ipomoea prolifera), with pretty pink flowers, was found in dry bush-land after heavy rain when the plants burst into bloom.
The second, a delicate white-flowered species (Ipomoea inaccessa), was found on an extremely steep-sided slope of the Andes covered in very moist cloud forest, climbing to at least 50ft (15m) over forest trees.
A new fungus - Hydnum melitosarx (Cantharellales) - is one of 22 new species of Hydnum, or hedgehog mushrooms, recorded in 2018, many of which are thought to edible, found in woodlands of northern North America and Western Europe.
- A new climbing yam (Dioscorea hurteri) with curious purple flowers, which is only known from six locations in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, has been recorded and it is hoped it could have medicinal properties which could be utilised in the future.
- A small and attractive flowering plant from the coffee family (Kindia gangan) was found growing on sandstone cliffs near Kindia, Guinea, West Africa, and its pollen has been found to contain chemicals that have anti-cancer properties.
- A new species of climbing pitcher plant (Nepenthes biak) that traps and digests insects in its pitchers has been found, which is unique to the limestone island of Biak, off the north coast of Indonesian New Guinea.
- A bright orange-flowered plant (Oreocharis tribracteata) was identified as a new species by scientists at Kew and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, when identifying plants grown from collections made in Vietnam in 2014.
- An 80ft (24m) rainforest tree, (Talbotiella cheekii), with a trunk that reaches 32in (83cm) across, is the biggest organism discovered by Kew in 2018 and comes from Guinea, West Africa, where it is endangered by the clearance of remnants of forests where it dominates.
- A tree from Cameroon (Vepris bali), known only from the Bali Ngemba Forest Reserve where it was collected by forest Edwin Ujor in 1951 and has not been seen again since, is thought to have become extinct before it was ever named.
Scores of species of plants and fungi found in places ranging from mountainsides to Asian black markets
Kew and its partners have found some 128 vascular plants and 44 species of fungi around the world this year
The biggest new discovery is an 80ft (24m) tree from Guinea which is endangered by forest clearance
- A new species of Allspice tree (Pimenta berciliae) has been found restricted to a small area of the northern mountains of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, and is closely related to the commercially important Allspice tree species.
- Two species of morning glory were recorded in Bolivia, one of which (Ipomoea prolifera), with pretty pink flowers, was found in dry bush-land after heavy rain when the plants burst into bloom.
The second, a delicate white-flowered species (Ipomoea inaccessa), was found on an extremely steep-sided slope of the Andes covered in very moist cloud forest, climbing to at least 50ft (15m) over forest trees.
A new fungus - Hydnum melitosarx (Cantharellales) - is one of 22 new species of Hydnum, or hedgehog mushrooms, recorded in 2018, many of which are thought to edible, found in woodlands of northern North America and Western Europe.
- A new climbing yam (Dioscorea hurteri) with curious purple flowers, which is only known from six locations in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, has been recorded and it is hoped it could have medicinal properties which could be utilised in the future.
- A small and attractive flowering plant from the coffee family (Kindia gangan) was found growing on sandstone cliffs near Kindia, Guinea, West Africa, and its pollen has been found to contain chemicals that have anti-cancer properties.
- A new species of climbing pitcher plant (Nepenthes biak) that traps and digests insects in its pitchers has been found, which is unique to the limestone island of Biak, off the north coast of Indonesian New Guinea.
- A bright orange-flowered plant (Oreocharis tribracteata) was identified as a new species by scientists at Kew and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, when identifying plants grown from collections made in Vietnam in 2014.
- An 80ft (24m) rainforest tree, (Talbotiella cheekii), with a trunk that reaches 32in (83cm) across, is the biggest organism discovered by Kew in 2018 and comes from Guinea, West Africa, where it is endangered by the clearance of remnants of forests where it dominates.
- A tree from Cameroon (Vepris bali), known only from the Bali Ngemba Forest Reserve where it was collected by forest Edwin Ujor in 1951 and has not been seen again since, is thought to have become extinct before it was ever named.
Scores of species of plants and fungi found in places ranging from mountainsides to Asian black markets
Kew and its partners have found some 128 vascular plants and 44 species of fungi around the world this year
The biggest new discovery is an 80ft (24m) tree from Guinea which is endangered by forest clearance
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