In the extension of the Big Bles National Park of the Big Bend National Park, where the Chihuahuan desert extends apparently endless, Deb Manley was lying on his stomach, looking at the ground. What he saw was not an ordinary desert plant. Small, confusing and crowned with Garnet Florets, it seemed somewhat out of a fairy tale.
“I had never seen anything like that before,” said Manley, volunteer of the park’s botany program. She took photos and uploaded them to InaturalistA citizen science platform, hoping that someone can recognize the mysterious plant. But nobody could.
What followed was a history of botanical detectives that led to a remarkable discovery. The plant was not only a new species but a completely new genus. In fact, he was the first to be identified in an American National Park in almost half a century. Scientists have called it Biradiata oviculaor the “Lanudo Devil”.
A new desert plant
The Lanoso devil is a survival teacher in one of the toughest environments on earth. Metering less than three inches (7.5 cm) wide, grows low to the ground. Its white and woolly leaves are mixed without problems with the desert gravel. And it blooms only after the rain, a rare event in this arid landscape.
“The plants that thrive in the deserts are often quite unique,” said Isaac Lichter Marck, an ecologist at the California Academy of Sciences and co -author of the study. “Specific mechanisms have evolved to resist extreme conditions: rapid life cycles triggered by rain, water storage structures and other adaptations.”
The discovery of Wooly Devil is a great story about the scientific process. After Manley and a ranger saw him for the first time in March 2023, the herbarium records, the plants taxonomy publications and even the DNA analysis to confirm their uniqueness consulted. Genetic sequencing revealed that the plant is so different from its closest relatives that justified its own gender within the Daisy family, Asteraceae.
His name reflects his appearance: Ovicula means “small sheep”, a reference to the thick white fluff that covers its leaves, while Birradiata It refers to the two belt -shaped petals in each flower. For a more memorable nickname, the researchers called him the “Lanoso Devil”, inspired by his horn -shaped petals and his discovery near a hiking area called Devil’s Den.
Newly found, almost lost
Despite his desert resilience, the devil Lano faces an uncertain future. Until now, researchers have found it in just three narrow locations in the northern corner of the park. Its highly specialized habitat, rocky soil and prone to drought, makes it vulnerable to climate change.
“As the deserts become hotter and more dry, highly specialized plants such as the extinction of the Devil Lana’s face,” said Lichter Marck said USA today. “We may have documented a species that is already coming out.”
The fleeting appearances of the plant after the rain make it even more difficult to study. “We do not know if this spring will flourish,” said Anjna O’Connor, Superintendent of the Big Bend National Park. “There are so much that we still need to learn: its life cycle, its pollinators, whether other populations in the park.”
Scientists are also intrigued by the possible medicinal properties of the plant. Under a microscope, they noticed similar glands to those found in other members of the Daisy family, which is known to produce compounds with anti -cancer and anti -inflammatory effects.
“While more research is needed, this discovery underlines the potential knowledge we obtain by preserving the diversity of plants in fragile ecosystems,” said Keily Peralta, study co -author.
The Big Bend National Park, which covers more than 800,000 acres, is an access point for biodiversity. Its varied habitats, from high elevation forests to low desert declines, house innumerable species, many of which remain without discovering.
The Wooly Devil is only the last of a series of notable findings in the park. In recent years, scientists have discovered fossils from a new dinosaur with duck peak and rediscovered a kind of oak that once thought.
Meanwhile, Deb Manley plans to continue exploring. You never know what she will find. The desert always has secrets to share.
The findings appeared in the magazine Phytokeys.
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