Khanh Hoa found many new plant species in Hon Ba area

According to the Institute of Tropical Biology (under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology), cooperation programs between the Institute and some international scientific agencies on biodiversity research in Vietnam have been discovered a lot. New plant species in Hon Ba Nature Reserve, Khanh Hoa province.

Discovering new plants in Khanh Hoa

These new plant species all detected at an altitude of 1,000 meters or more in the reserve.

Specifically, within the framework of the cooperation program between the Institute and the Asian Center for Ecological Conservation, of Kyushu-Japan University, scientists have discovered the plant belongs to the coffee family and named Xú incense Yahara.

This species is characterized by bushes, 1-1.5m tall, hairless branches, spear-shaped oval leaves to oval oval; inflorescence in the axils of the leaves, stalkless flowers, radio shaped bell and dark red, egg-shaped and reddish brown when ripe. Two new plant species belonging to the ginger family were also discovered at Hon Ba, the result of cooperation between the Institute and Prague Botanical Garden - Czech Republic, in turn named Zingiber discolor and Zingiber yersinii .

Illustration.(Source: khanhhoa.gov.vn).

The Zingiber discolor is found to be quite common at altitudes above 1,000m, with a rather special morphological characteristics compared to other ginger species recorded in Vietnam because the underside of the leaves is dark purple and shiny.

Species Zingiber yersinii are characterized by branches bearing leaves up to 0.8 meters long, drooping at the tops; narrow, slightly curled elliptical leaves, bright green face, lighter underside .

In addition, at Hon Ba, scientists also discovered a new orchid species , named Miguelia cruenta Aver & Vuong , with zigzag flowers, green yellow flowers, blooming pairs and long stalks, lips with pale yellow flowers and red veins.

Hon Ba nature reserve is over 2,000ha wide, 30km from Nha Trang city along the southwestern flight path, with an absolute height of over 1,570m above sea level, cool climate all year round, real system diverse and clear forest objects when there are more than 590 species recorded.

This reserve, established in 2005 by Khanh Hoa province, has attracted many scientists to explore, survey and find new plants to supplement plant diversity for Hon Ba said. and Vietnam in general.