Heathrow Airport fungus and ‘UGLIEST’ orchid on Earth among new plant species found in 2020


Orchids are not often called ugly, but that is how the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, described a new species of the normally-vibrant and delicate flower discovered in the forests of Madagascar...

  1. Gastrodia agnicellus, one of the 156 plants and fungal species named by Kew scientists and their partners around the world in 2020, has been crowned “the ugliest orchid in the world”
  2. “The 11-mm flowers of this orchid are small, brown and rather ugly,” Kew said on its list of the top 10 discoveries of the year. The orchid depends on fungi for nutrition and has no leaves or any other photosynthetic tissue
  3. Other major finds in 2020 include six new species of fungus found in the UK – including one near Heathrow Airport – a scaly shrub from a completely new family of plants, and two new species of aloes. They are among the top 10 species new to science, as chosen by the experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
  4. The Heathrow Airport toadstool was discovered when field mycologist (mushroom expert) and author Andy Overall was walking along the river on the boundary of Heathrow airport
  5. Other plants discovered this year include a Brazilian bromeliad – a relative of the pineapple, sporting bright red flowers and a shrub related to blueberries found growing on the edge of the world’s largest goldmine in New Guinea, among others

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