New Species Identified After Expert Spotted a Picture of It on Instagram
Researchers named the rare plant after confirming just 7 specimens across 2 lakes and estimating only 30 to 50 remain in the wild.
- Scientists formally identified a new giant waterlily species, Victoria colombiana, after spotting it in an Instagram photograph. Findings were published today in the journal Phytotaxa.
- Carlos Magdalena, a horticulturist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, suspected a new species five years ago after seeing Jeremiah Harris's Instagram post. Magdalena noted the plant's natural range did not include the Inirida River.
- During a five-day expedition, researchers struggled to find blooming specimens until local guide Gustavo Melo led them to a new population at dawn. They identified seven plants across two lakes, securing samples for study.
- Researchers estimate only 30 to 50 waterlilies remain in the wild, classifying the species as critically endangered. The team plans to submit the plant to the International Union for Conservation of Nature for official designation.
- To prevent extinction, scientists are cultivating seeds at the Jardin Botanico de Bogota Jose Celestino Mutis. They hope to eventually grow the species at Kew Gardens while establishing protected populations near local indigenous residents.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Five years ago, Gijonés Carlos Magdalena, researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew (London), saw on Instagram some photos taken in the Colombian region of Inírida in which a giant water lilies appeared. The images had been captured by the director of a carnivorous plant nursery in the U.S., who erroneously identified the new species as the most common, Victoria amazonica. However, Magdalena, known as the 'plant mesies' for her ability to '…
Researcher Maarten Christenshus of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland reported that, thanks to satellite images and social media images, scientists had discovered a new type of giant water lilies in Colombia. Previously, scientists had only known two types of giant jugs with leaves up to three metres wide, but in recent years three new species had been discovered, writing NewScientist. "I think it is incredible that we find something s…
Science breakthrough after new giant waterlily species discovered thanks to Instagram post
Experts discovered an incredibly rare new species of giant waterlily after spotting it in an Instagram photo.The species, formally named the Colombian giant waterlily (Victoria colombiana), boasts lily pads stretching up to two metres in diameter, yet only an estimated 30 to 50 individual plants are believed to survive in the wild.The remarkable path to its formal scientific description took waterlily specialist Carlos Magdalena from a social me…
A team of researchers from the botanical gardens of Kew, England, and Bogotá, along with indigenous experts from the Orinoco basin, have just published the finding in the scientific journal Phytotaxa. They estimate that there are only 30 to 50 individuals in the wild.
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