New species of 'fairy lanterns' discovered growing in a Malaysian rainforest

[Still Waters]

Within the depths of a Malaysian rainforest's shadows an astonishingly plant, lacking sunlight-eating leaves, bizarrely blooms. This small, otherworldly growth, belonging to a group of rare flowering plants known as fairy lanterns (Thismia), has just been scientifically described for the first time.

They're tiny plants, too deep within the forest to receive sunlight, and often emerge beneath the leaf litter, so they don't bother with photosynthesizing and have lost the ability to do so. They have no chlorophyll; instead, they siphon food through their roots from the fungal network shared by other rainforest plants.

These incredible mycorrhizal fungal networks connect large plant communities together via their roots, allowing plants to communicate with each other using electric signals and even send resources to each other. In turn, the fungi receive sustenance from the plants.

https://www.sciencealert.com/enchantingly-strange-fairy-lanterns-discovered-growing-in-a-malaysian-rainforest

https://phytokeys.pensoft.net/article/68300/

[SHaYap]

Welcome to Pandora ...

~