In Japan, a new species of orchid has just been discovered in a residential area in the suburbs of Tokyo

 In Japan, a new species of orchid has just been discovered in a residential area in the suburbs of Tokyo

It is called Spiranthes hachijoensis and joins the 28,000 species of known orchids, a surprise in this country where the flora has already been extensively studied for centuries, especially orchids.

To find it, you have to go to Japan, in the suburbs of the capital Tokyo, the prefecture of Chiba, where, while strolling in a residential area, the biologist Kenji Suetsugu, researcher at the University of Kobe was attracted by a sparkle of pink color, shades of purple and pink emerging from the flowerbeds of a private individual.

This is how flowers are born:

Approaching, he discovered there an unknown orchid, a species never seen, never listed, in other words a real rarity in a country whose flora has been extensively studied for centuries, in particular orchids. "However, he says, you can't miss its flowering, nor its dazzling colors and especially the funny texture of its petals, sparkling, as if they were made of glass."

Indeed, the flower seems crystallized, as if blown into glass or sugar. With his colleagues, Kenji Suetsugu therefore looked for others, to see if this was not a unique model, and by coming across multiple specimens, he was able to confirm the existence of a variety. fully fledged. The Journal of Plant Research has just published its work and revealed the name given to the flower: Spiranthes hachijoensis, which joins the 28,000 known species of orchids.

"Always explore, even the places you think you know"

What this flower tells us is that discoveries are not always made in remote places, far from any human footprint in virgin forests or unexplored deserts. They also happen there, before our eyes, in our direct environment, a balcony, a garden, on a roof.

"This demonstrates, explains Kenji Suetsugu to the journal Popular Science, that we must always explore, even the places we think we know by heart, even the most banal of planters, it is important, not only for our good knowledge of these flowers, but above all to better understand the environment that surrounds us, the ecosystem in which we are and of which we are a part".