Europe's rarest orchid rediscovered on 'lost world' volcano in the Azores
Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - 18:00
in Earth & Climate
This is a view eastward along the spine of the Azorean island of São Jorge, showing the area where the new orchid has been discovered. Image: Rob Poot. Researchers studying speciation of butterfly orchids on the Azores have been startled to discover that the answer to a long-debated question "Do the islands support one species or two species?" is actually "three species". Hochstetter's Butterfly-orchid, newly recognized following application of a battery of scientific techniques and reveling in a complex taxonomic history worthy of Sherlock Holmes, is arguably Europe's rarest orchid species. Under threat in its mountain-top retreat, the orchid urgently requires conservation recognition.