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Life

Strange new fairy lantern plant is already critically endangered

By Adam Vaughan

1 July 2021

Thismia sitimeriamiae is extremely rare

Thismia sitimeriamiae is extremely rare

University of Oxford

This bizarre-shaped plant from a Malaysian rainforest appears to be so vanishingly rare it should already be considered critically endangered. Described this week by a UK and Malaysian team, it was first found near a mountain trail in 2019 by Nikong Dome, who lives alongside Indigenous communities in the rainforests of Terengganu state.

Up close and supporting endangered wildlife:Join a New Scientist Discovery Tour to Malaysian Borneo

“This was a completely unexpected and astonishing discovery. It’s only a couple of centimetres high, orange, a beautiful-looking…

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