Plants that survive thanks to the presence of a protected bird species, palm trees that fruit and flower almost exclusively underground, orchids on the top of a volcano and mushrooms in Antarctica are some of the great scientific discoveries presented in 2023 on the list of plants and fungi produced by the prestigious Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew (RGB Kew, in the United Kingdom) in collaboration with a large team of international experts.
The Top-10 of Plants and Fungi” is an important reminder of the beauty and wonder of the natural world, but also a warning that biodiversity loss and climate change threaten to alter that beauty, as well as the many functions they play in supporting ecosystems,” highlights the RJB Kew in the presentation (this January 11) of the list of species that have recently been named.
In 2023, scientists and partners at this leading scientific center named 74 species of plants and 15 species of fungi, unknown to science to date.
The findings correspond to a great diversity of ecosystems, from rocky outcrops in Antarctica, to Madagascar and the Korean Peninsula. “Unfortunately, many of these species are already considered threatened with extinction due to the destruction of their habitat and despite efforts, it is almost certain that at least one of these species was already globally extinct when it was formally described,” indicates the center of research promoter of this listing. Dr Martin Cheek, senior research leader for RBG Kew’s Africa team, highlights that it is “imperative now, more than ever, that we do everything in our power to get out into the field with our partners and determine which species of plants and fungi we have not yet given a scientific description; If we don’t, we risk losing these species without even knowing they exist.
Here are the 10 strangest and most wonderful species named new to science in 2023:
1. The recently described orchid species Aeranthes bigibbum is the perfect example of how implementing protection measures for one species can help save another that faces certain destruction. Discovered on the island of Madagascar, A. bigibbum was found by Kew botanist Johan Hermans during a years-long exploration of the country’s orchids in association with Malagasy botanists. What is unusual is that the plant comes from a small reserve managed by a group of villagers charged with protecting a very rare bird species, the Euryceros prevostii. With its distinctive blue beak, visitors who pay to see the bird bring a small amount of income to the village, incentivizing the protection of its forests. Without the presence of this rare bird, it is believed that the forest would have been cut down and with it the orchids.
2. Although it may seem strange at first, many plant species have evolved to thrive underground. This is true of the deep, free-draining sands of the Kalahari in the Angolan highlands of central Africa, where tree species from several families have evolved to be 90% or more underground. In this particular case, Dr David Goyder of Kew discovered two new species of underground trees during a National Geographic Expeditions study in remote areas of Angola. One of these species, Baphia arenicola or ‘sand growing’, belongs to the bean family and sports white flowers. The second species, Cochlospermum adjanyae, features characteristic yellow flowers. This species is named after Adjany Costa, an Angolan colleague and winner of the UN Young Champions of the Earth Africa award in 2019.
3. The genus of Lichtheimia fungi is known to include at least six species, all of them distributed throughout the world even in very hot environments. The fungi have been found in compost heaps, soil, food products, invertebrates and even feces, and the genus belongs to the order Mucorales, which includes bread mold. At least three species of Lichtheimia are known to be human pathogens, meaning they can cause diseases in humans, such as invasive mucormycosis in the lungs or in skin wounds. Described by Kew mycologist Dr Paul Kirk, the new species Lichtheimia koreana was first isolated from soybean waste in South Korea’s Kunryang-ri, Cheongyang and Chungnam provinces in 2020 and 2023. Fortunately, it is not closely related to the three pathogenic species and that is why scientists believe that its pathogenic potential is limited.
4. When a team of scientists visited the Indonesian island of Waigeo in 2020, they did so in hopes of rediscovering a long-lost species of blue orchid, Dendrobium azureum, that had not been seen in 80 years. Not only did their mission prove to be a success (the plant was found on the summit of Mount Nok, an extinct volcano), but they also encountered other hitherto unknown orchid species. One of these discoveries is Dendrobium lancilabium subspecies wuryae, an orchid with spectacular bright red flowers named after Mrs. Wury, wife of Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin. It is the ninth new (sub)species of orchid from Indochina and Southeast Asia described since December 2022 by Kew orchidologist Dr André Schuiteman, together with local partners.
5. When a Malaysian scientist alerted his colleagues at RBG Kew about the existence of a very unusual palm tree on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, they didn’t know they were about to stumble upon the first of its kind: a species of palm tree that bears fruit and flowers almost exclusively underground. Officially called Pinanga subterranea, it is the first and only known member of the palm family (Arecaceae) to exhibit both geofloria and geocarpy, which has so far only been observed in one other group of plants, an orchid called Rhizanthella. And yet, even though the plant managed to avoid scientific scrutiny until recently, thanks in large part to its small, modest stature, the plant and its bright red fruits were already known to some local communities. In fact, the plant has several names in Bornean languages: Pinang Tanah, Pinang Pipit, Muring Pelandok and Tudong Pelandok. Kew scientists Dr William Baker and Dr Benedikt Kuhnhäuser believe P. subterranea is proof that nature still has many surprises up its sleeve, but also that indigenous knowledge is a valuable tool for the accelerated species discovery.
6. Although the frozen, arid landscape of Antarctica is virtually devoid of flowering plants, it is home to many lichens. Lichens are fascinating organisms formed by an association between a fungus and algae and/or cyanobacteria (or both). However, Antarctic lichens cannot grow on ice and only two percent of the continent is exposed as bare rock known as nunataks. More than 400 species of lichen grow on these nunataks, although very little is still known about the additional fungi that grow on them (lichenicolous fungi), of which only around 100 species have been reported. Now, a study of Antarctic lichens collected in February 2018 near the Spanish Antarctic base has so far revealed three new species of lichenicolous fungi: Arthonia olechiana, Sphaeropezia neuropogonis and Sphinctrina sessilis. The species was described by a team including Kew mycologist Raquel Pino-Bodas, with her unique morphological, anatomical and molecular expertise.
7. The tobacco genus Nicotiana is scattered throughout the world, but more than half of its 90 known species are found in Australia. This is where Kew’s Mark Chase and Maarten Christenhusz spend their northern autumns, tracking and studying the DNA, chromosomes and taxonomy of this genus. Research on the genus has focused on how thin-leaved herbaceous plants survive in some of the driest places on the planet. In 2023, scientists described a total of nine new species of Nicotiana, including N. olens, named for its pleasantly scented flowers. Native to New South Wales, the plant grows in open sites on clay or sandstone, with its type locality at Pines Picnic Grounds in Cocoparra National Park. Until recently, the new species was confused with the similar species N. suaveolens, first cultivated in Europe, in France, from seeds collected by the famous British naturalist Sir Joseph Banks when he traveled with Captain Cook. Banks was a key figure in defining RBG Kew as the world’s most important botanic garden.
8. The genus Microchirita is made up of herbaceous plants distributed in Asia, from India to Borneo. Currently, scientists recognize approximately 47 species of the genus, and 37 of them are found in Thailand. Microchirita plants grow almost exclusively on limestone rocks and their flowers can be white to blue, yellow or orange, smooth or multicolored with spots or stripes. Its most striking feature is the inflorescence, which emerges from the leaf stem. The new species, Microchirita fuscifaucia, was found in Thailand and was named for the flower’s dark throat. Unfortunately, it is already considered threatened, since it is only known from two sites, both unprotected. Locally, the plant is known as Yat neramit and is one of eight new species described this year by Carmen Puglisi, formerly of Kew, and her colleagues David John Middleton, Naiyana Tetsana and Somran Suddee of the Singapore Botanic Garden and Forest Herbarium ( BKF), in Bangkok.
9. Scientists have so far named 750 species of Indigofera (indigo-containing) plants in the tropics. Several of these species have been used independently to produce blue pigments for clothing, from South America and the Caribbean to Indonesia. Many Indigofera species found in Africa are either highly toxic or highly palatable to livestock, but scientists still largely don’t understand which is which. The plants are mainly bushy, with T-shaped hairs, especially on the foliage, very characteristic of this genus. They also have cylindrical pods and red or pink flowers. Several species are grown as beautiful ornamental shrubs in the United Kingdom. Dr Brian Schrire, an honorary research associate at Kew, has been researching this genus for decades, publishing 80 new species, 18 of which are from South Africa and were described with co-authors this year, far surpassing the output of any other taxonomist in RBG Kew. in 2023. Among the newly described species is Indigofera abbottii, named after Anthony (Tony) Thomas Dixon Abbott, a pioneering conservationist and amateur plant collector who found countless plant species, including this very namesake. Unfortunately, as is the case with many recently described species, it has been assessed as threatened due to the clearing of its habitat for agriculture and housing development.
10. The plant that closes this list was discovered by field botanist Bart Wursten during a botanical exploration in Mozambique. Similar to sundews and covered in glandular hairs that trap insects, the plant was revealed to belong to the genus Crepidorhopalon, a group of flowering plants in the order Lamiales (mints and relatives) that are not related to any known carnivorous plants or sundews. Officially named Crepidorhopalon droseroids, meaning “looks like a Drosera” due to its resemblance to a sundew, it is the 34th known species of Crepidorhopalon. No other species in this genus has these sticky glandular hairs. However, both field and laboratory studies are still necessary to confirm whether this new species is carnivorous. Although it has been seen to attract and trap insects, it is not yet known if it can digest and absorb them for nutrition. The description of the species was co-authored by Dr Iain Darbyshire of RBG Kew, a specialist in the order Lamiales in Africa.
