A new species of plant has been discovered in eastern Peninsular Malaysia and researchers believe it is already critically threaten .
The newfangled plant has been namedThismia aliasiiand is part of theThismiagenus , which contains plants that do not photosynthesize . Instead , these strange - look works rely on fungi for their nutrients and are known as mycoheterotrophic .
The genus is also commonly referred to as " fairy lanterns " due to the shape of the flowers . These flower contain specialized pollination mechanism and are typically pollenate by lowly insects such as fungus gnat or scuttle flies . The flowers from the newfangled species are “ promiscuous to dark Orange River to sepia - brownish red , ” explain the authors in the paper .
OtherThismiaspecies in the state of Terengganu.Image Credit: Siti-Munirah, M. Y. & Alias, S.M. PhytoKeys (2025)CC BY 4.0
" The discovery ofThismia aliasiiis very interesting as it was find oneself in a hilly neighborhood known for its natural beauty . The discovery was made on the border of a popular mountaineering trail , but , remarkably , the species was first recognised by Alias , ” explains astatement .
The metal money was first distinguish by co - source of the survey Mohamad Alias Shakri in 2019 during an junket to Terengganu ’s Chemerong Forest Eco Park . unluckily , theCOVID pandemicmeant that collecting the specimen was delayed , but now the team was able to contract fieldwork to find out this extraordinary - looking works . The coinage flummox its name from Mohamad Alias Shakri .
Due to morphological analysis , the team was able to find divergence in the new species compared toknown speciesin the same genus , this includes the fact that the tepal appendages are of unequal distance .
The species was recover in a dampish shady area around 640 metre ( 2,100 groundwork ) above sea level , and was recorded flowering and fruiting in July and October . The unexampled species adds to the current telephone number of theThismiagenus found in Terengganu , which is already a hotspot for the plant .
Despite multiple surveys , the team was only capable to find five specimens of the flora , at two sites , leading to a provisional classification by theIUCNof Critically Endangered . The biggest threat to this species is habitat degradation due to hike up in this increasingly democratic country .
The paper is published inPhytoKeys .
