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Fairy Lanterns: An Extremely Rare Plant

Started by Recusant, July 04, 2021, 09:08:15 AM

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Recusant

Only four specimens of this species of plant have ever been observed. It's a tiny obligate parasite that gets its nutrients from fungi. The thing with these fairy lanterns is that many of the species "have been found only once" according to the paper describing this species. I did a little delving, and it seems to me that all of them qualify as "enchantingly strange."

"Enchantingly Strange 'Fairy Lanterns' Discovered Growing in a Malaysian Rainforest" | Science Alert

Quote

The rare and unique fairy lantern.
Image Credit: University of Oxford




Within the depths of a Malaysian rainforest's shadows an astonishingly plant, lacking sunlight-eating leaves, bizarrely blooms. This small, otherworldly growth, belonging to a group of rare flowering plants known as fairy lanterns (Thismia), has just been scientifically described for the first time.

They're tiny plants, too deep within the forest to receive sunlight, and often emerge beneath the leaf litter, so they don't bother with photosynthesizing and have lost the ability to do so. They have no chlorophyll; instead, they siphon food through their roots from the fungal network shared by other rainforest plants.

These incredible mycorrhizal fungal networks connect large plant communities together via their roots, allowing plants to communicate with each other using electric signals and even send resources to each other. In turn, the fungi receive sustenance from the plants.

Plants that do this, like fairy lanterns, are thought to have evolved from one of the plant parts of the mycorrhizal fungal partnership. They've cheated the system, however, and turned fully parasitic on the fungi network. This form of food acquisition is called myco-heterotrophy.

[Continues . . .]

The paper is open access:

"Thismia sitimeriamiae (Thismiaceae), an extraordinary new species from Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia" | PhytoKeys

QuoteAbstract:

We describe an extraordinary new species in the genus Thismia from the Terengganu State of Malaysia in the Malay Peninsula. The new species, which we name Thismia sitimeriamiae, is distinct from all other Thismia species known to science, most notably in its unique mitre configuration formed by the inner tepals and its floral surface morphology characterised by conspicuous orange trichomes. We discuss our findings in the context of underestimated species diversity in the genus Thismia and implications for their conservation. We recommend assigning T. sitimeriamiae the conservation status as Critically Endangered (CR) according to IUCN criteria.
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Tank

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Icarus

More proof that Mother Nature has all sorts of intriguing plots.