Kew gardens scientists name 190 new species including zombie-making fungus and blood-red orchid

Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, have officially named 125 new plant species and 65 fungi over the past year, revealing extraordinary discoveries that highlight both nature’s incredible diversity and its alarming fragility. Among the most striking finds are a parasitic fungus that transforms Brazilian spiders into “zombies,” a critically endangered orchid adorned with blood-red markings from Ecuador’s misty cloud forests, and a shrub whimsically named after the fire demon from Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved 2004 film “Howl’s Moving Castle.”

Kew’s annual “top 10” list showcases these remarkable species while underscoring a sobering reality: many newly discovered plants and fungi are already teetering on the brink of extinction. According to Kew’s “State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2023” report, three out of four undescribed plant species face threats of extinction. One newly described species, Cryptacanthus ebo—a bromeliad from Cameroon’s Ebo Forest—may have already vanished forever.

The scientific community faces a daunting challenge, with an estimated 100,000 plant species and 2-3 million fungal species still awaiting discovery and classification. Many of these unknown fungi are endophytes living entirely within plant tissues, forming crucial components of plant microbiomes. “Describing new plant and fungal species is essential at a time when the impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change accelerate before our eyes,” explains Martin Cheek, a senior research leader in Kew’s Africa team. “It is difficult to protect what we do not know, understand and have a scientific name for.”