In November 2023, naturalist Gim Siew Tan chanced upon an unusual plant with whitish-peach flowers growing near the buttress of a tree at a popular picnic site in Hulu Langat Forest Reserve in Selangor, Malaysia. Researchers subsequently collected and analyzed specimens of the plant and found that it was a new-to-science species of “fairy lantern” — a group of plants that lack chlorophyll and spend most of their lives underground, hidden from view.
The research team, including Tan, have formally described the species in a recent study, naming it Thismia selangorensis. Its species name refers to Selangor, the state where it was found.
“This discovery shows that significant scientific finds are not limited to remote jungles; they can also be made in ordinary environments where constant human activity leaves little room for expectation,” Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh, study lead author from the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, said in a statement.
Fairy lanterns in the genus Thismia live a cryptic life: They’re mostly found underground in leaf-litter-rich forest soils, emerging above ground only to briefly flower. Their lack of chlorophyll means that Thismia plants can’t make their own food; instead, they’re mycoheterotrophic, that is, they parasitize fungi for their nutrient supply.
The newly described Thismia selangorensis only blooms between October and February, the researchers note. “Its flowers are often small, inconspicuous, and hidden beneath leaf litter or root buttresses,” they add.
T. selangorensis appears to be rare. Since it was first spotted in 2023 in Taman Eko Rimba Sungai Chongka, a popular picnic and camping site in Hulu Langat, researchers have recorded fewer than 20 individuals of the plant. All were found within a 4-square-kilometer (1.5-square-mile) patch of the same picnic area, including on a riverbank, and nowhere else.
“Fortunately, a few known subpopulations of T. selangorensis exist on the riverbank and near tree roots; thus, there is no known direct impact from the campground or nearby playground,” the researchers write. “However, the status of these populations may also be uncertain because activities occurring along the river could result in trampled plants.”
Given its extremely limited population and vulnerability to trampling, as well as risks from river flooding during heavy rain, the researchers assess the species as critically endangered.
“Protecting Thismia selangorensis will require cooperation among researchers, the forest department, stakeholders, and the public, as its survival depends on how carefully we tread in its habitat,” Yunoh said in the statement. “The most important effort now is to raise awareness about this species so the public realises that it exists — right here, in this small corner of the world, and nowhere else, at least for now. Understanding its presence is the first step towards ensuring that this extraordinary plant is not lost before many people even know it exists.”
Banner image of Thismia selangorensis, courtesy of Gim Siew Tan.
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