22 Dec 2009
Mountains of orchids...
New species of orchids discovered on Borneo's highest mountain
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- 4 comments
Dendrobium serena-alexianum (Image: Tony Lamb)
With just over 25,000 species, the orchids are probably the world's largest flowering plant family. Kew’s orchid experts Dr Jeff Wood and Dr Phil Cribb have added 38 new species to the total this year alone. Jeff Wood has been studying the orchids of Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Borneo (4095m), for more than a decade and yet continues to discover species new to science.
Mount Kinabalu, Borneo's highest mountain
“Kinabalu is unbelievably rich,” says Dr Wood. “In an area of just 1,200 square kilometres 866 different orchids occur, including 13 new species described this year alone”. But there is trouble in paradise; Borneo’s forests are being devastated by widespread logging for timber and oil palm plantations. Dr Wood has named a further 15 new species this year, all of which have been discovered in logging areas in Borneo. Orchids face a further threat – illegal collection for the horticultural trade.
Wood’s research is essential – put simply, by placing these spectacular plants on the map, he is throwing them a lifeline.
Other species discovered in Borneo include Callicarpa argentii, a small endangered tree with bright red fruits.
Discover more...
- A bumper year for Kew in new species discovery
- Canopy giants from the rainforests of Cameroon
- From the tallest to the smallest - tiny fungi and miniature flowering plants
- New palms from Madagascar
- New coffee species that could help safeguard your daily cup
- An ancient aquatic plant on the rocks
- Discovered in a glasshouse!
- New knee-high eucalyptus discovered in Australia
- New species of indigo
- A unique endangered yam from South Africa
- Twenty new species from Brazil
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4 comments on 'Mountains of orchids...'
Michelle Desilets says
02/01/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Organisations such as Orangutan Land Trust and Borneo Orangutan Survival are working to acquire large areas of forest to protect flora and fauna from the encroachment of loggers and oil palm developers. Find out more at www.forests4orangutans.org
Gribbo says
23/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
So now I can see the trees because of the Wood.
Henry Barth says
23/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Kathleen: Do you have a source for your claim that there are more aster species than orchids? I don't thank it is correct. The family Asteraceae genus once contained nearly 600 species in Eurasia and North America, but after morphologic and molecular research on the genus during the 1990s, it was decided that the North American species are better treated in a series of other related genera. After this split there are roughly 180 species within the genus, all but one being confined to Eurasia. HB
Kathleen Garness says
22/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Borneo is well-known and treasured for its species diversity, due perhaps to the many different ecotones and microclimates it harbors. What conservation efforts are in currently in place to help preserve these habitats from legal and illegal logging enterprises? (BTW, some researchers believe that the aster family is larger than the orchidaceae but orchids are probably better 'canaries-in-the-mine' as climate change indicators so let's do what we can to preserve them!)