Two critically endangered species found in Yunnan after 100 years (2)

Aerial photo shows a giant karst sinkhole in Mengzi, southwest China’s Yunnan province. (Photo courtesy of Kunming Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Chinese plant researchers found a new population of two critically endangered species, Petrocosmea grandiflora and Elaeagnus bambusetorum, in southwest China’s Yunnan province in June, according to the Kunming Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The finding came after a series of surveys and collection of germplasm resources in a giant karst sinkhole, known as tiankeng in Chinese, in the city of Mengzi in the province.

“The survey gave fruitful results,” said Zhang Ting, head of the team from the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species in Southwest China affiliated to the institute.

The team discovered a new wild population of Petrocosmea grandiflora on cliffs in the tiankeng. It is a new species described by William B. Hensley, a British botanist, in 1895 based on the specimens collected by William Hancock, a Northern Irish botanist, in Mengzi of Yunnan province. The type specimen is preserved in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London. Since then, no specimen of the species has been publicly available.

Meanwhile, Zhang’s team obtained mature seeds of another species, Elaeagnus bambusetorum, which had “disappeared” for 106 years, in the area around the tiankeng. The type specimen of the rare plant was collected by Austrian botanist Handel-Mazzetti in Mengzi on March 8, 1915, and is now preserved in the University of Vienna in Austria. There had been no relevant specimen records since then.

“Against the backdrop of increasing global ecological destruction and rapid biodiversity loss, we, as seed collectors, are in a race against time,” Zhang said, outlining the team’s efforts on biodiversity protection.

The team also collected germplasm resources of many other rare plant species in the tiankeng, according to Zhang.