The world’s largest giant waterlily from the wetlands of Bolivia, a spiny fungus named after Queen Elizabeth II and a herb threatened with extinction by pigeon droppings are among more than 100 plants and fungi recorded as being new to science this year by the London-based Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Many of the discoveries, including a tall tree from Brazil and a busy lizzie from Cameroon, are extremely rare, and one is already considered globally extinct. Two in five plants globally are estimated to be at the risk of extinction.
Scientists at Kew said that their efforts to name new species, working with partners, was part of a global effort to protect the planet’s biodiversity and also help humanity. On average, 2,000 new species of plant and fungi are named each year.
“It’s easy to think we have a picture-perfect understanding of the natural world, and all its plants and fungi, but as these annual lists show us time and time again, we’ve only really scratched the surface of discovery,” said Martin Cheek, the senior research leader in Kew’s Africa team. “We cannot put a stop to the biodiversity crisis unless we know exactly what it is we are saving and where.”
This year’s discoveries include the Queen’s hedgehog, a white mushroom with soft spines beneath the cap instead of gills, which DNA analysis has revealed to be a distinct European species and not the North American fungus it was once assumed to be.
It was named in honor of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Sept. 8.
Tuula Niskanen, the research leader in Kew’s fungal diversity team, said that an estimated 2 million fungal species — more than 90 percent of all fungi — remained to be described.
“Fungi have remained such a mystery to us, compared to plants and many animals, because their cryptic lives mainly unfold hidden from our eyes and have been challenging to study with traditional techniques,” Niskanen said. “Only in the last few decades, thanks to the arrival of DNA-based methods, have we started to understand the true diversity of this kingdom.”
DNA analysis also confirmed the discovery of the giant Bolivian waterlily from the Amazonian wetlands, with leaves measuring up to 3.3m across. Two previously known species in the Victoria genus of waterlilies were both named in the early 19th century and have long been popular attractions at botanic gardens.
Unknown to Kew’s researchers, a dried specimen of the giant Bolivian waterlily was kept in Kew’s herbarium for more than 170 years before being revealed as a new species.
A new species of leafy herb, Gomphostemma phetchaburiense, is classified as “critically endangered” in the wild because its population is less than 50 plants, all found at the mouth of a limestone cave in Southeast Asia.
The remaining plants are particularly threatened by the droppings of a nearby colony of rock pigeons.
No. 10 on Kew’s list of the top discoveries of the year was Eugenia paranapanemensis, a tree that grows up to 27m tall and only found in the last fragments of Brazil’s threatened Mata Atlantica rainforest.
Only three mature trees have been found so far.
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