Hoya burmanica spotted in a new distribution area in Yunnan

Photo shows flowers of the Hoya burmanica. (People’s Daily Online/Liao Qinchang)

Staff at a nature reserve in Longling county, southwest China’s Yunnan province discovered several tiny yellow flowers in the shape of five-pointed stars when they were patrolling through a forest on Sept. 4. The plant was then identified as Hoya burmanica, a new species of plant first recorded in China in 2019, having been discovered in Longling for the first time.

The Hoya burmanica is a succulent plant with lemon-scented blossoms. The plant species was originally known to be distributed in northern and western Myanmar and eastern India. Before it was discovered at the Longling Xiaoheishan Provincial Nature Reserve this time around, the plant had already previously been seen at two nature reserves in Yunnan province—at the Tongbiguan Nature Reserve and Ailaoshan National Nature Reserve.

“The discovery of Hoya burmanica in Longling indicates that the varieties of the Hoya plant have increased to 10 from 9 at the Longling Xiaoheishan Provincial Nature Reserve, which is a new distribution area for the Hoya burmanica in China,” said Tan Yunhong, a plant researcher.

Tan explained that the Hoya burmanica plants spotted in China are currently all being preserved at nature reserves, reflecting the fact that nature reserves play a significant role in the protection of bio-diversity.