Endangered wild plants discovered in SW China’s Chongqing

Photo shows Amentotaxus argotaenia. (Photo/Courtesy of the management bureau of Yintiaoling National Nature Reserve)

The largest community of an endangered wild plant species was discovered in Yintiaoling National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Chongqing municipality on May 26, according to the reserve's management bureau.

The plant, Amentotaxus argotaenia, which dates back 160 million years, was spotted during a survey conducted by a research team from the Chongqing Museum of Natural History, together with staff from the reserve.

Over 3,000 individuals of the species were identified in an area of more than 500 mu (about 33.33 hectares) in the Lanying Grand Canyon of the reserve.

Dubbed a “living fossil”, the species is only found in the Yangtze River basin and regions south of the river, as well as northern Vietnam, and is of great significance to the study of plant diversity and evolution.