SANTIAGO (EFE) – New Orchid Species Discovered By Chilean Researchers A group of researchers at the School of Forestry Sciences at Chile's Universidad de Concepcion have discovered a new species of orchid, which they have dubbed
Bipinnula Gabriel This significant discovery, led by Pablo Bravo, is the result of a more than four-year study of a plant found in the Putu area, 258 kilometers (160 miles) south of Santiago.
"The new species is a very characteristic lemon green color, has more flowers than most orchids and measures some 60 centimeters (24 inches)," he said.
Chile has 53 different orchid species, of which 27 are native, but Bravo notes the importance of finding new varieties because it shows that a lot of study has yet to be done on the subject.
Thanks to the publication of the discovery in the magazine of the Chilean botanical society, Gayana Botanica, other scientists are evaluating the possibility that the new orchid might be found in other areas of the country.
"Orchids flower every three to five years, so that when they're without flowers it's hard to differentiate the species. But with this new material it will be easier to detect in other areas," Bravo said.
A gorgeous species of orchid in Panama has a new name — it was named after the family of the researcher who discovered the flower.
The orchid, which belongs to the Lophiaris genus, was named Lophiaris silverarum after Katia Silvera, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Riverside, and her father, who discovered the plant about eight years ago while they were hiking in a mountainous area of central Panama.
Tetramicra Riparia Carribean Beauties-Cuban OrchidOne of the world's newest orchid species is also its most delicate, with tiny white flowers smaller than a dime. Yet the flower finds its home amid boulders near the banks of rushing streams in Cuba's remote eastern mountains.
