Dozens of newly discovered plants and fungi have been named for the first time in 2024 by scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew.
Toothy toadstools from the UK and climbers from tropical Asia are among a list of 149 plants and 23 fungi discovered across the world.
Among the species, scientists highlighted a ghostly palm from the island of Borneo and marzipan-scented lianas, while another top pick includes a bracket fungus found in Buckinghamshire.
Plectocomiopsis hantu, a ghostly palm from Borneo. Pic: Royal Botanical Gardens
Senior research leader in Kew’s Africa team Dr Martin Cheek said it is a “sheer privilege” and “thrill” to describe a species as new to science.
But several are already at risk of extinction as the scientists drew attention to the loss of global biodiversity.
Cheniella longistaminea flowers. Pic: Royal Botanical Gardens
“The devastating reality is that, more often than not, new species are being found on the brink of extinction and it’s a race against time to find and describe them all,” Dr Cheek added.
“Biodiversity loss is a crisis that affects us all: every unknown species we lose could have been a potential new food or new medicine that we never even knew existed.”
Dendrobium wanmae. Pic: Royal Botanical Gardens
Scientists often work with international partners to protect plants by incorporating them into a network of important plant areas (IPAs).
Sometimes they may collect plant material so Kew’s horticulturists can breed them in at the gardens in west London.
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Kew warned the scale of the challenge is huge, with scientists around the world describing an average 2,500 new plants and 2,500 fungi each year.
That’s in the context of estimates there could be as many as 100,000 plant species left to find, along with 2-3 million fungi species.
