New endangered #FairyLantern plant species discovered in Malaysia https://phys.org/news/2025-03-endangered-fairy-lantern-species-malaysia.html

#Thismia aliasii (Thismiaceae), a #NewSpecies from Terengganu, Peninsular #Malaysia https://phytokeys.pensoft.net/article/136085/

"They are mycoheterotrophic, meaning they do not photosynthesize and instead rely entirely on #fungi for their nutrition. The genus is known for containing species with unusual #flowers that facilitate specialized #pollination mechanisms involving small #insects such as fungus gnats."

Remarkable #NewSpecies of #plants steals nutrients from underground fungi https://phys.org/news/2024-06-remarkable-species-nutrients-underground-fungi.html

#Thismia malayana, a new #mycoheterotrophic species from Peninsular #Malaysia https://phytokeys.pensoft.net/article/120967/

"Unlike most plants, #mycoheterotrophs do not perform #photosynthesis. They are stealing #carbon resources from the #fungi on their roots... this new species thrives in the low-light conditions of dense forest understories where its flowers are pollinated by fungus #gnats and other #insects."

This beautiful "fairy lantern” is an unusual plant species, previously thought extinct. It is symbiotic with trees. #botany #fungi #trees #thismia

https://www.treehugger.com/etherial-fairy-lantern-presumed-extinct-rediscovered-30-years-7152059

👇Check out Pfeiffer's 2014 description of Thismia americana here:

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/331235

Published back when @IJPSJournal was called the Botanical Gazette.
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RT @RobertsonMorgan
Pouring one out for the lost #Thismia endemic to wetlands in the Chicago region, T. americana, 8,000 miles disjunct from its nearest relative in New Zealand. Diminutive mycoheterotroph, last seen in 1916. Has the sta…
https://twitter.com/RobertsonMorgan/status/1602015795172835328