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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Damian Carrington Environment editor

Toadstool with teeth and ghostly palm among plant and fungus finds of 2024

Dendrobium wanmae. An orchid with green and orange petals
Dendrobium wanmae, an orchid found on a remote mountain summit in Indonesia. Photograph: Kew Royal Botanic Gardens

From a toadstool with teeth to a vine smelling of marzipan and a flower that has cheated its way out of having to photosynthesise, a weird and wonderful host of new plant and fungus species have been discovered in 2024.

Other plants given scientific names for the first time include beautiful new orchids, a ghostly palm and a hairy plant that appears to have stolen a gene from an unrelated family. The species are among the 172 new plants and fungi named by scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and their partners.

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