A new species of tropical mistletoe (mistelten) has been described by scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London, BBC online writes Monday.
The research team found the plant on an expedition to Mount Mabu in northern Mozambique in 2008. Now, just in time for Christmas, they have confirmed that Helixanthera schizocalyx is new to science.
The plant tops a list of Kew’s botanical discoveries of 2010, which includes a Vietnamese orchid and an exceptionally rare tree from Cameroon.
Butterfly specialist, Colin Congdon, spotted the mistletoe in the dense foliage near the summit of Mount Mabu. He realised that it was different from anything he had seen on the mountains in neighbouring Malawi and Tanzania.
Mistletoes are “hemi-parasitic”, meaning they take some of the nutrients they need from other plants.
KUN 4 TILBAGE
Cameroon canopy giant (Magnistipula multinervia). At 41 meters (bøgetræer bliver normalt 25 til 30 meter), the gigantic but criti-cally endangered tree towers above the canopy (løvhænget) of the lush green rainforests of Korup National Park, where it was found.
The team used alpine climbing equipment to scale its heights and collect specimens of its fruit from which to identify it. Only four of these trees are known to exist.
