New rock aspidistra species discovered in Phong Điền Nature Reserve, Huế
On March 31, Lê Ngọc Tuấn, head of the Forest Protection Sub-Department of Thừa Thiên-Huế (now Huế city) in central Vietnam, said that scientists had discovered and described a new plant species in the genus Aspidistra — a species new to science — in the Phong Điền Nature Reserve (in the former Phong Điền district, now part of Huế city). The plant is the Phong Điền rock aspidistra (scientific name Aspidistra phongdiensis).
The Phong Điền rock aspidistra, a plant species new to science discovered in the Phong Điền Nature Reserve, Thừa Thiên-Huế (now Huế city). (Photo: VNA).
Earlier, while setting up camera traps during the second round of 2022 in Sub-zone 71 of the Phong Điền Nature Reserve, forest rangers came across a plant with strikingly beautiful flowers growing on the rock face at the top of the Seven Fairies Waterfall (Thác 7 Nàng Tiên), the same spot where the species known in Vietnamese as "Mỹ nhụy răng cưa" had previously been collected and described. After collecting samples and working with experts from the Vietnam National Museum of Nature, Huế University of Agriculture and Forestry, Huế University of Medicine and Pharmacy and Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russia), the team confirmed that it was a species new to science. Six months after it was first spotted and sampled, the plant was formally described in the specialist journal Phytotaxa on March 30, 2023.
The Phong Điền rock aspidistra belongs to the asparagus family (Asparagaceae). It resembles A. khangii but differs in its wider leaf blades, the white outer surface of its perianth, its yellow pollen, and its distinctive anthers and pistil. Based on this unusual perianth structure, the new species was described and named after the Phong Điền Nature Reserve, the only place where it has been recorded so far.
According to the head of the provincial Forest Protection Sub-Department, the discovery of the Phong Điền aspidistra clearly demonstrates the biodiversity value of the reserve, which is home to many rare plants and animals that have yet to be studied. The find gives forest rangers and reserve staff fresh motivation to keep researching and protecting the area, as well as the wider ecosystems of Thừa Thiên-Huế.
The Phong Điền Nature Reserve covers more than 40,000 hectares divided into 43 sub-zones, and harbors a rich array of plants and animals, with some of the highest biodiversity in central Vietnam.
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