New species of fuzzy sunflower found by national park volunteer
A photo uploaded to popular citizen science social network iNaturalist is a snapshot of the first new genus and species of plant discovered in a US national park in almost 50 years. The wooly devil (Ovicula biradiata) was found in Big Bend National Park in Texas with bright red petals and is a member of the sunflower family. It is detailed in a study recently published in the journal PhytoKeys.
Big Bend National Park is located within the Chihuahuan Desert. This well-studied region is the largest and most biologically diverse warm desert in North America and is home to coyotes, quail, wild horses, alligator lizards, and more. While the Chihuahuan Desert has been the subject of several botanical surveys over the last 100 years, this is the first new plant genus in a national park that scientists have described since 1976. That plant–the mountain-dwelling shrub July gold (Dedeckera eurekensis)–was found in Death Valley National Park.
'While many assume that the plants and animals within our country's national parks have probably been documented by now, scientists still make surprising new discoveries in these iconic protected landscapes,' Isaac Lichter Marck, a study co-author and California Academy of Sciences plant taxonomist and ecologist, said in a statement. 'O. biradiata is a member of the sunflower family, although it does not resemble its sunburst-shaped relatives at first glance.'
The team sequenced the plant's DNA and compared it with other specimens in the California Academy of Sciences' herbarium. The sequencing revealed that this small and fuzzy plant is both a new species within the sunflower group and distinct enough to be a completely new genus.
Park volunteer and study co-author Deb Manley first spotted the plant in March 2024 and harnessed the power of international botanist crowdsourcing to identify this unknown species. O. biradiata is the type of plant that botanists colloquially call a 'belly plant.' These are small and discreet plants that can only be properly observed by lying on the ground. It is a distinctive wild flower with furry white foliage and maroon-colored ray petals. O. biradiata is also quite an ephemeral species, only blooming after rain. It is found in harsh rocky habitats with limited rainfall and grows alongside drought-tolerant shrubs, such as ocotillo, hedgehog cactus, and creosote.
'Plants that thrive in deserts are often quite unique, having evolved specific mechanisms to withstand the extreme drought-and-deluge conditions of these arid landscapes—from water-storing structures to rapid life cycles triggered by rain,' said Lichter Marck. 'But as climate change pushes deserts to become hotter and drier, highly specialized plants like the wooly devil face extinction. We have only observed this plant in three narrow locations across the northernmost corner of the park, and it's possible that we've documented a species that is already on its way out.'
Ovicula biradiata's name was inspired by its wooly appearance and the bright red petals. Ovicula means 'tiny sheep,' and refers to the thick, white hairs that cover its leaves. It also honors one of Big Bend's most iconic endangered species–the bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Biradiata, or 'bi-radial,' refers to the two ray florets loaded on each of the plant's flowers. The team working with the plant affectionately called the fuzzy flower the 'wooly devil,' which has become its suggested common name.
[ Related: Parasitic orchids ditch photosynthesis for fungi. ]
'Now that the species has been identified and named, there is a tremendous amount we have yet to learn about it,' study co-author and Big Bend National Park botanist Carolyn Whiting said in a statement. 'I'm excited to discover whether there are other populations in the park, the details of its life cycle, what pollinates it, and whether we'll observe it this spring, given the current drought.'
Visitors to Big Bend can contribute by documenting wildflowers they encounter following upcoming spring rains and uploading their observations to iNaturalist. The team from this study will also be probing to see if the wooly devil's potential medicinal properties.
'Under the microscope, we noticed specific glands that are known to possess compounds with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties in other plants within the sunflower family,' study co-author and California Academy of Sciences researcher Keily Peralta said in a statement. 'While further research is needed to determine these properties, this discovery underscores the potential knowledge we stand to gain from preserving plant diversity in fragile desert ecosystems.'
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