New orchid species found in China's Xizang

LHASA, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have found a new rare orchid species, called Kuhlhasseltia motuoensis, in Medog County, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

The plants were found by an orchid survey team along the Yarlung Zangbo River in Medog in August 2023, according to the county's forestry and grassland bureau.

Morphologically, the orchid is characterized by having a yellow labellum fringed with two rows of dentate protrusions on the outer edges of both sides. The new orchid species belongs to Kuhlhasseltia, a genus in the family Orchidaceae.

Jin Xiaohua, a researcher with the Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that so far, only one wild population of about 25 Kuhlhasseltia motuoensis orchids has been found and therefore, scientists have labeled the species as critically endangered.

The discovery has been published in the journal Phytotaxa.