Discovering new plant species in Binh Phuoc

Southern Institute of Ecology has just announced a new plant belonging to the ginger family in the deep forest of Bu Gia Map National Park.

Newly discovered turmeric species.(Photo: VAST)

According to information posted on the website of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), the new species of Leonid (Curcuma leonidii Škorničk. & Luu) belongs to the ginger family (Zingiberaceae). The new species bears the name of Russian professor Leonid Averyanov, the world's leading researcher on Vietnamese flora.

Dr. Luu Hong Truong and colleagues at the Southern Institute of Ecology analyzed and evaluated new specimens collected in Bu Gia Map National Park in recent years. At the same time, the scientific team also incorporated convincing evidence when describing the anatomy and genetic analysis of researchers at the Singapore Botanical Garden.

Since then, the scientific group said that the above species belongs to genus Curcuma, chi sub-Hitcheniopsis, because their morphological characteristics lack the glands attached to the pots and stamens.

The detailed description of the new species was published in Phytotaxa magazine.