Scientists identify 'alien' flowering plant

    By CHEN LIANG | China Daily | Updated: 2024-03-29 09:30
    Share
    Share - WeChat
    Ya Jidong takes photos of Thismia malipoensis in the nature reserve in 2019. CHINA DAILY

    On Aug 13, 2019, Ya Jidong, a botanist from the Kunming Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his colleagues walked into a patch of wet evergreen, broad-leaved forest in a karst valley in the Laoshan Provincial Nature Reserve in Malipo county, Yunnan province.

    Working with the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species at the KIB, they were collecting germplasm materials from wild species, particularly seeds. By chance, they discovered a strange plant.

    With a height of barely 4 centimeters above the ground, the tiny plant bore a striking resemblance to an "alien" due to its unique appearance.

    "It looked more like a mushroom than a flowering plant, and it was something we had never seen before," Ya told China Daily.

    They observed, measured and photographed the plant. As they walked a bit further, they found 10 more.

    After returning to Kunming, capital of Yunnan, with the plant and conducting further studies, they found that the species is a member of the Thismia genus, which doesn't have green leaves and has eschewed photosynthesis in favor of a more unusual nutrient gathering process.

    Thismia plants, commonly known as fairy lanterns, live entirely underground except for periods during the wet season, when their flowers rise above the soil.

    "In the undergrowth of humid and dark forest, they only blossom for two or three weeks and then disappear," Ya said. "Even though we spent more than 100 days exploring the wild every year, we had never seen any Thismia species."

    1 2 Next   >>|
    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    日韩亚洲变态另类中文| 无码人妻少妇久久中文字幕| 无码国产成人午夜电影在线观看| 在线播放中文字幕| AV无码人妻中文字幕| 曰韩精品无码一区二区三区 | √天堂中文www官网在线| 久久久久无码专区亚洲av| 国产成人无码久久久精品一| 人妻AV中出无码内射| 最近的中文字幕大全免费8 | 最近高清中文字幕无吗免费看| 乱色精品无码一区二区国产盗| 精品久久久久久无码中文野结衣| 亚洲欧美精品一中文字幕| 97无码免费人妻超级碰碰夜夜| 无码人妻一区二区三区免费看| 中文字幕日韩精品有码视频| 日本免费中文字幕| 久久中文骚妇内射| 日韩亚洲不卡在线视频中文字幕在线观看| 国产日韩精品中文字无码| 无码精品视频一区二区三区| 成年无码av片完整版| 中文字幕无码人妻AAA片| 久久AV无码精品人妻糸列| 久久亚洲精品无码VA大香大香| 中文字幕九七精品乱码| 中文字幕精品久久| 久久人妻无码中文字幕| 亚洲色无码一区二区三区| 亚洲日韩精品无码专区网址| 亚洲中文字幕无码久久精品1| 亚洲AV永久无码区成人网站| 亚洲av无码精品网站| 色欲狠狠躁天天躁无码中文字幕| 无码aⅴ精品一区二区三区浪潮| 欧洲精品久久久av无码电影| 国产AV无码专区亚洲AV毛网站 | 狠狠躁天天躁中文字幕无码| 超清无码无卡中文字幕|