by Two types of tree and palm that live underground are among the new plant species named in 2023 and highlighted by scientists at the Royal Botanical Garden Kew in the UK.
The palm is unique, as the only known species whose flowers and fruits are almost completely underground, and was discovered in Borneo. The trees were discovered in the deep sands of the Kalahari of Angola, where the free-draining terrain has allowed some species to live at least 90% underground.
Other new species include an orchid found on top of a volcano, fungi from apparently unclean waste in Antarctica and new fungi found in food waste in South Korea. The new species is the most mysterious plant from Mozambique that appears to be carnivorous.
400,000 plant species have been named but scientists estimate that another 100,000 have yet to be identified. Botanists are in a race against time to discover enough plants and fungi before the ongoing destruction of the natural world drives them to extinction. A lost species not only means that their unique biology is gone forever, but also potential human uses such as medicines, food and even plastic recyclers.
Every year, scientists around the world name about 2,500 new species of plants and the same number of fungi. In 2023, RGB Kew researchers named 74 plants and 15 species of fungi.
“It is now, more than ever, vital that we do our best to get out into the field with our partners and work out which species of plants and fungi we have not yet scientifically described,” said Dr Martin. Cheek, part of the RBG Kew Africa team. “If we don’t do that, we risk losing these species without even knowing they were there. As we make these amazing new discoveries, we must remember that nature is at risk, and we have the power to do something about it.”
About 40% of named plant species are at risk of extinction, as habitats are destroyed for farmland and other human development. But it is estimated that up to 75% of the world’s unreported plant species are already at risk of extinction.
Dr Raquel Pino-Bodas, at RBG Kew, also said: “Although fungi are one of the three major eukaryote groups, along with plants and animals, most of the fungal diversity remains undiscovered. Only 5-10% of existing species are known.”
She said it was vital to increase the search for new species: “Among this incredible diversity of fungal species, we are bound to find new sources of food, medicines and other active compounds that will help us find nature-based solutions to major challenges.”
Kew mycologist Dr Paul Kirk has discovered a new species of fungus in soybean waste in South Korea. It is in the same genus as other fungi that thrive in elevated temperatures and can be pathogenic to humans, although this species is thought to be of low risk.
“New fungal species are not only found in remote, unexplored areas, they can be found in every environment on the planet,” Pino-Bodas said.
Kew scientists Dr William Baker and Dr Benedikt Kuhnhäuser were aware of the underground palm by a Malaysian scientist and local communities who knew about the plant and its bright red fruits. Baker said the discovery showed nature still has many surprises and indigenous knowledge is a valuable tool for early species discovery.
The new orchid species was found fortuitously on top of an extinct volcano on the Indonesian island of Waigeo. The botanists hoped to rediscover a blue orchid that had not been seen for 80 years, which they did. But they also found a new orchid on the summit of Mount Nok, with brilliant bright red flowers.
Antarctica is a poor place for plant hunting, and the icy continent does not have many flowering plants, but there are many lichens. Lichens are a partnership between a fungus and algae and/or cyanobacteria. In 2023, Pino-Bodas and colleagues named three new species of fungi that grow on lichen near the Spanish base on the Antarctic peninsula.
Another strange discovery was made in Mozambique: a plant covered with glandular hairs that catches insects, like slugs. However, it was revealed that the plant was in the genus Crepidorhopalon and therefore unrelated to any known carnivorous plant. It has been seen that insects are attached to the plant and research is now underway to find out if the plant digests them for nutrition.
Other highlighted species named by Kew scientists are nine new species of tobacco from Australia, a Madagascan orchid, and a new violet relative from Thailand. The latter are only known from two sites, both unprotected, and are therefore already considered to be in danger of extinction. A new species of plant in South Africa that produces the dye indigo is also threatened by farming and housing expansion.
