SCIENTISTS have uncovered a new genus of plant in Japan for the first time in nearly a century.
The plant is known as a fairy lantern and grows up to 3 centimeters tall and 2 centimeters wide.
It looks like a squid with bell-like “arms”, but has no chlorophyll for photosynthesis, according to a new study.
Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water.
In plants, photosynthesis generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll.
Fairy lanterns instead eat fungi for sustenance – a practice that is considered “alien” compared to the more familiar, photosynthetic plants, study author Kenji Suetsugu from Kobe University in Japan said.
An amateur botanist uncovered the plant in the Kimotsuki mountains on the island of Kyushu in Japan in 2022.
However, the plant wasn’t confirmed as a new genus until recently because of the long process of classification.
In fact, the specimen is the first new genus of a plant to be uncovered in Japan since 1930.
Interestingly, it spends most of its life underground and only emerges to the surface for as little as a week each year.
To date, researchers have only located five individual plants in a single location.
What’s more, they predict that the total population of the plant is no more than 50.
“The unique appearance of this new plant species does evoke images of squids or extraterrestrial beings,” Suetsugu said.
“[This makes] it a truly unusual and fascinating addition to the botanical world,” he added.
The researcher hopes the Japanese government will give the plant endangered species protection.
The scientists also proposed the Japanese name for the plant: mujina-no-shokudai.
A rough translation of the term equates to“raccoon dog’s candleholder”.
