Plantwatch: new species of elusive fairy lantern found in Malaysia

Fairy lantern plants are seriously weird. They look like something from another planet with their lantern-like flowers, spend most of their lives underground, have no leaves or chlorophyll and suck all their nourishment out of fungi living in the ground.

Their official name is Thismia and looking for them is incredibly frustrating. They are often only seen when their small flowers poke above ground, although that happens for no more than a week or so. In fact, the plants are so elusive that one species, Thismia neptunis, was only found again 151 years after it was first discovered in Borneo and had to be identified from a picture made by the botanist Odoardo Beccari, who originally found the plant.

Despite their elusive lifestyle, a new species of Thismia has recently been discovered in two Malaysian rainforests. The small cup-shaped flowers of Thismia malayana were found sticking up out of leaf litter and rotten logs. The flowers are coloured brown and white with a rich yellow interior and brilliant violet stamens, the pollen-bearing organs, and around the top of the flower are several strange tentacles that make it look more like a sea creature than a plant. It is thought that the tentacles may help attract pollinating flies.