A ghost orchid that grows in complete darkness, an insect-trapping tobacco plant and an “exploding firework” flower are among the new species named by scientists in the last year. The highlighted plants are among the 205 new species named in 2021 by scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and their collaborators around the world. There are 400,000 named plant species and two in five are threatened with extinction. In total, scientists across the world have named about 2,000 new plant species each year for at least a decade. “Who knows how many thousands of plant species it will be revealed in future to have likely become extinct due to palm oil plantations,” said Cheek.

Source: The Guardian January 06, 2022 21:08 UTC