An unidentified natural lizard was hiding in the outskirts of Tokyo
Discovering a new species of orchid is always an event. Botanists find an average of more than ten years old, most often in tropical forests. But when a flower that has not yet been listed in its natural state is discovered in a completely unusual environment, the discovery becomes extraordinary.
Such is the adventure that a Japanese biologist, Kenji Sutsugu, recently had during an innocent stroll in Chiba Prefecture, on the eastern outskirts of Tokyo. Encountering a specimen he’s never seen before, this researcher from Kobe University proudly displays its purple hue among plants the individual grows on one of his flowerbeds.
“It’s a crazy thing!”
The scientist is intrigued by the texture of petales, “scintillants as they are among the best”, according to more than one report in the journal Popular Science, which differs from the cells of his family of “spiranthes”, published in Region.
Laboratory analysis confirms his hunch. The flower’s DNA is unique, never before sampled, and this orchid turns out to be a completely new natural species, biologist explains at Article published on March 17 in the “Journal of Planet Research”.
“There are approximately 30,000 natural species in the world today,” explains a Parisian florist who specializes in orchids. We discover between ten and fifteen new species every year, but most often, in wild lands, so remote and seldom frequented by man as in the Amazon recently. Finding one downtown in Japan is crazy! »
Denominated “spiranthes hachijoensis suetsugu”, in honor of its discoverer, the plant is now the star of its kind and gives hope for new discoveries without venturing into regions as tropical as hostile.
For Kenji Suetsugu, “This shows that we must always explore, even the places we think we know by heart, even the most banal planters, it is important, not only to have a good knowledge of these flowers, but above all to better understand the environment that surrounds us, The ecosystem we are in and of which we are a part.
“It’s a very interesting finding because it was the eye of the world that started it and then it was science that confirmed it,” says Frederick Achille, head of botanical collections at the National Museum of Natural History. As did botanists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when they ventured into faraway lands. »
“It can still be done, but the trainer rarely goes on. Countless people, including botanists, are sure to have seen this orchid, without arousing any particular interest because flowers belonging to the same group often have characteristics Slightly different physiology. Kenji Suetsugu’s method has made it possible for scientific investigations to isolate this lizard and make it a species in its own right. We can say that research laboratories are now new areas of discovery!”
No export is possible
Don’t expect to soon buy, from your florist, a ‘Speranthes hashigoensis sutsugo’ plant to display in your living room. This new orchid is already among the so-called “vulnerable” plants according to the classification drawn up by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), which includes species of which there are only 20 to 100 individuals left on the planet.
“90% of natural and non-hybrid orchids are protected, like pandas, to avoid any traffic,” warns our Parisian florist. Only professionals who own a stock plant have the right to multiply it. In no way can the arrival of these new species be turned into a business opportunity You will have to go to Japan to enjoy it! »
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