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The newly described plant Relictithismia kimotsukiensis is only above ground for a few days a year.
Shuichiro Tagane
This small plant, which feeds mainly on fungi and has no pigments, was named as the first new genus of plant in Japan since 1930.
It was discovered in June 2022 by an amateur botanist in Kyushu’s Kimogen Mountains, but it has taken some time to confirm its uniqueness. So far, researchers have found only five individuals in a single location, and estimate that the total population may reach as few as 50.
This plant grows up to 3 cm in height and 2 cm in width and emerges from the ground in just one week each year. It belongs to a group of plants known as fairy lanterns, which gives it its scientific name. Relictithismia kimotsukiensis.
Unlike most other plants, fairy lanterns do not produce the green pigment chlorophyll needed for photosynthesis. Instead, they get their energy from fungi. “This adaptation gives it an alien-looking appearance compared to more familiar photosynthetic plants,” says Kenji Suetsugu of Kobe University in Japan, one of the scientists who described the new species.
“The unique appearance of this new plant species certainly evokes images of squid or extraterrestrial life forms, making it a truly unusual and fascinating addition to the plant world.”
Mr. Suetsugu proposed a Japanese name for this plant. Mujina’s tabletranslated as “raccoon candlestick.”
After Suetsugu first learned about the plant’s existence, it took nearly a year to realize that the plant was growing there. It was a moment of “joy and relief,” he says. Because he feared it might take 10 years to collect the specimens he needed to adequately describe it.
He hopes the Japanese government will protect the plant as an endangered species and take steps to protect its population because of its proximity to roads.
“[The discovery] This challenges the notion that new species can only be found in remote or unexplored areas, and suggests that even well-studied areas may hold undiscovered botanical treasures.” says Mr. Suetsugu.
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