Botanists have rediscovered thismia neptunis, a plant that is only found in the remote jungles of Malaysia. This organism spends most of its time underground, only flowers appear above its surface, but even then only for a couple of weeks and not every year. An article with the results was published in the journal Phytotaxa.
Thismia neptunis was first described by the Italian botanist and traveler Odoardo Beccari in 1866. This 19th century scientist, who discovered hundreds of plant species, discovered tismia in the eastern state of Malaysia - Sarawak. He compiled a description of it and made several drawings, but since then, no evidence of the existence of this plant has been known to science.
On a 2017 expedition, Czech botanists were able to discover the tismium of Neptune, which they described in a new article. The flowering stem of the plant is small - only about 9 centimeters high. “We know so little about the prevalence of this plant due to its inconspicuous appearance, because it is easy to miss when working in the jungle,” the authors write. - As far as we know, this species was found only the second time. Therefore, we present an updated description and the very first photograph of this iconic plant, which has become almost mythical thanks to its peculiar appearance and characteristic name."
Thismia neptunis.
Scientists are interested in such rare plants not only due to their very limited distribution, but also due to other amazing properties. In particular, the Neptune tismia belongs to mycotrophic plants, that is, those that feed on fungi and, therefore, have lost their leaves and the ability to photosynthesize. At the moment, botanists find it difficult to say whether this species is threatened with extinction due to its hidden lifestyle.