Despite being thought of as easy for people who want to take care of plants to destroy, orchids can be found everywhere on Earth. There are over 25,000 known species of these plants, and more are discovered every year. A group of scientists from around the world has discovered a new kind of orchid in Madagascar with an impressive nectar spur and a connection to Charles Darwin. Solenangis impraedicta is discussed in a research paper published on March 11 in the journal Current Biology.
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Madagascar is famous for its flowers with long floral tubes that are pollinated by long-tongued hawkmoths. The most well-known orchid species on the island is Angraecum sesquipedale, which is also known as Darwin's orchid. The renowned naturalist and orchid enthusiast had a hypothesis that the flower was pollinated by a moth that was unknown at that time. Approximately 41 years after this prediction, scientists officially described the large hawkmoth, proving Darwin's theory to be correct.
The newly discovered species is aptly named Solenangis impraedicta. In Latin, impraedicta translates to 'unpredicted' and is a nod to Darwin's eventually accurate prediction that a specific moth is the orchid's main pollinator. The newly discovered orchid has a nectar spur that is almost 13 inches long, despite having petals that are less than one inch. These tube-like projections from a plant's petals produce and retain nectar for pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and moths. Solenangis impraedicta has the third longest spur scientists have ever recorded.
“The contrast between the little 2 centimeter (0.7 inches) flowers and the hyper-long nectar tube is amazing,” study co-author and Coimbra University Botanic Garden botanist João Farminhão stated.
The plant with delicate white petals and a yellow-ish stem was initially collected by Missouri Botanical Garden field botanist Patrice Antilahimena, during a baseline environmental impact study of a mine site in central eastern Madagascar. A new location of these orchids was found about 10 years later by Brigitte Ramandimbisoa and a Ph.D. student at the New York Botanical Garden Simon Verlynde.
It belongs to the angraecoid orchids group also known as 'Darwin's pollination guild.' It is currently threatened by mining activities and possibly by poaching for the orchid trade. The authors hope that the discovery will boost conservation efforts.
“Discovering a new orchid species is always an exciting event, but finding such amazing and charismatic species happens only once in a scientist’s career,” study co-author and Missouri Botanical Garden botanist Tariq Stévart stated. “I really hope that this highly threatened species draws attention to the urgent crisis that is affecting Madagascar’s biodiversity and helps support [Missouri Botanical] Garden’s program there.”
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The between Solenangis impraedicta’s discovery and its scientific description allowed the team to store some of its seeds and cultivate them in secret locations to assist preserve the plants.
“When sharing information about this amazing new species, we need to be cautious,” Stévart explained. “We need to safeguard and monitor the natural populations and we should refrain from disclosing specific details about their exact locations to the public. Therefore, we cannot disclose the location where it was discovered, but it's somewhere in Madagascar.”
