News from the gardening world
‘World’s ugliest orchid’ named by Kew gardens from more than 150 new plant and fungus species
Despite all the ongoing problems in the natural world, scientists are still finding new species. Experts at Kew gardens have just named 156 new plant and fungi species this year that haven’t only been discovered in far-flung places around the globe, from Africa, Asia and the Americas, but also on our doorstep in the UK too, including one from near Heathrow airport.
Among the most intriguing is a plant which has been dubbed ‘the world’s ugliest orchid’. Gastrodia agnicellus, which only grows from a single forest in Madagascar, has small, brown flowers just 11mm (¼in) long. After pollination by flies, the flower stalks elongate, holding the fruits well above the forest floor so that the dust-like seeds can be dispersed. The orchid depends on fungi in the soil for nutrition and has no leaves or any other green photosynthetic tissue.
Other plants found in Madagascar’s fast-dwindling forests include two new succulent aloes, usually found in sunnier, open grasslands or mountains. Aloe vatovavensis and A. rakotonasoloi, were found in a forest and now confirmed as new to science. It’s not yet known if the leaves of both aloes have the medicinal benefits found in well-known Aloe vera.
The island of New Guinea has yielded 19 new orchids from its forests, including three new dendrobium, including orangeflowered Dendrobium aurifex and 16 new bulbophyllum, strange flowering orchids pollinated by flies.
As conservatory plants go Hibiscus hareyae, from coastal scrub in southern Tanzani, is a new species with great horticultural potential as it can withstand much drier conditions than the wellknown Kenyan Hibiscus schizopetalus.
On the food front, from South America comes a relative of the sweet potato, Ipomoea noemana.
Known as ‘yura’ and even used by local communities in the high Andes of Peru for decades as a food crop, the purple-tubered, convolvulus-flowered perennial has only just been noticed by science and now named. It has yet to be analysed for its nutritional value and agricultural potential, but it’s hoped this attractive plant could have potential as a new food crop. Closer to home, six new species of webcap toadstool mushrooms have been described from UK habitats, three from Scotland and three from England. All are from the genus cortinarius, which are important in supporting the growth of plants via their roots, particularly trees such as oak, beech, birch and pine. One, Cortinarius heatherae was discovered on the boundary of Heathrow airport by field mycologist Andy Overall and named after his wife Heather.
“Among this list are some amazing new finds for science, each with their own unique qualities and potential for humanity,” said RBG Kew Botanist and Senior Scientist, Dr Martin Cheek. “However, the bleak reality facing us cannot be underplayed: with two in five plants threatened with extinction, it’s a race against time to find, identify, name and conserve plants before they disappear.”