Chinanews.com, Wuhan, December 9th (Ma Furong Jiangshan) The reporter learned from the Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on the 9th that the research team of Hu Guangwan in the garden rediscovered the rare plant of the genus A. ".
This is the first time the species has been found since it was last collected in 1895.
Relevant research was recently published in the international journal of plant taxonomy "Phytotaxa".
In 2019, Hu Guangwan's research team and local collaborators collected a very special species of acanthus in the forest during the scientific investigation of plant diversity in the central plateau of Madagascar.
Identified as endemic to Madagascar: Tanara japonica.
By consulting the specimens and relevant literature, it was found that the specimens cited in the naming and publication of the plant were collected in 1894 and 1895, and have not been collected since then.
Photo courtesy of Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Acanthus is a herbaceous or shrubby perennial plant widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions.
Plants of the genus are characterized by a bilipid corolla, with a channel-like structure on the inner surface of the upper lip, which secures the style to the corolla.
The Tanarajue bed is a ground or stone herb with creeping rhizomes, up to 70 cm long, and the flowering period is from September to January of the next year.
The survey found that Tanara is only distributed in two threatened forests in the middle of the central plateau of Madagascar.
The species' survival is primarily threatened by habitat loss from bushfires, illegal logging and slash-and-burn farming.
According to the evaluation criteria, this species is endangered species.
According to reports, the specimens collected in this investigation are preserved in the herbarium of the Zimbazza Zoo and Botanical Garden in Madagascar and the herbarium of the Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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