China's Hainan records new plant species

Photo shows Thismia tentaculata K. Larsen & Aver., a newly recoded plant species, in the Wuzhishan section of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park in south China's Hainan Province. (Photo/Wu Wanli)

A newly recorded plant species, Thismia tentaculata K. Larsen & Aver., was discovered in south China's Hainan Province on June 2. This marks the first time that the plant species was recorded on the Chinese mainland.

Wang Jiaren, a forest ranger from the Wuzhishan branch of the management bureau of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, found over 20 samples of the species in a rubber forest of the Wuzhishan section of the national park. The discovery of the plant species indicates a sound ecological environment.

Over 200 forest rangers like Wang work in the Wuzhishan section of the national park. Their duties involve patrols of the forest, fire prevention, and taking photos of animals and plants for researchers.

The Hainan tropical rainforest is China's prime example of a concentrated, diverse, well-preserved, and expansive continental island-type tropical rainforest.

The Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, covering a total area of 4,269 square kilometers, spans nine cities and counties in the province. The forest coverage rate in the national park is as high as 95.86 percent.

A total of 3,653 species of vascular plants had been recorded in the national park as of May 2024.

The national park includes the only habitat for Hainan gibbons, the world's rarest primate. The population of Hainan gibbons has increased from less than 10 forty years ago to 42 this year, according to the latest data.

Since the establishment of the national park, seven new species and newly recorded species have been spotted in the Wuzhishan section.