Southern Institute of Ecology discovered new genus

The research team of the Southern Institute of Ecology (SIE) has discovered a new, unprecedented plant species - genus Giang Ly.

In the process of searching for the position to deploy for the project 'Establishing a research cell to locate 25 ha to serve the successive research at Bidoup - Nui Ba' national park in early 2012, Dr. Luu Hong Truong, Deputy Director and SIE scientists (Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) have found new and unknown plants.

Dr. Luu Hong Truong transferred the samples to the Royal Botanic Gardens (Scotland, England) for analysis of molecular biology. As a result, this species is completely different from the existing records and they surpass the understanding of botanists. They belong to a new genus of plants not previously known - Billolivia DJMiddleton, gen.nov.

The new genus has been named Vietnamese Chi Giang Ly by scientists of SIE Institute. Giang Ly is the first place to find a standard species for Billolivia - a very typical ecological ecoregion with a height of 1,700m on the high mountain of Bidoup Nui Ba National Park (Lam Dong), where year-round cloud cover lies. adjacent to Khanh Hoa province.

Species Billolivia longipetiolata.(Photo: Luu Hong Truong / Vast)

Billolivia longipetiolata - Billolivia longipetiolata newly discovered in 25 ha specimen plots of Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park is considered a standard species for new plant genus Giang Ly - Billolivia is stored at the SGN Collection of the Institute Southern ecology.

Billolivia is the compound name of two famous botanists in the 20th century, Mr. Brian Laurence Burtt (lost) and Olive Hilliard. They are two of the first to question the identification of similar specimens collected from Vietnam and are stored in some of the major plant collections in the world.

Understanding deeply within the vicinity, Dr. Truong and colleagues also confirmed that there are at least 5 species of the genus Giang Ly - Billolivia. All 5 species are new species for science, of which 4 species were found from the Da Lat plateau; The other species is found in Bu Gia Map National Park (Binh Phuoc).

All 5 newly discovered species in the genus Giang Ly - Billolivia are endemic to the highlands of the Central Highlands. They all grow under forest canopy in the area of ​​evergreen forest, along small streams, or wet lands.

The study was published in Phytotaxa botanical journal in New Zealand in March 2014.