Announced four new plant species originating from Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park

On the morning of April 18, the Director of Bidoup National Park – Nui Ba, Dr. Le Van Huong informed, three famous international journals specializing in botanicals, including Brittonia, International Camellia Society and Phytotaxa, have just announced four species. New plants for science come from this national park. Of which, two species belong to the genus Tra my (Camellia) and two species belong to the genus Thu Hai Duong (Begonia).

Four newly announced plant species originate from Bidoup – Nui Ba National Park. On the morning of April 18, the Director of Bidoup National Park – Nui Ba, Dr. Le Van Huong informed, three famous international journals specializing in botanicals, including Brittonia, International Camellia Society and Phytotaxa, have just announced four species. New plants for science come from this national park. Of which, two species belong to the genus Tra my (Camellia) and two species belong to the genus Thu Hai Duong (Begonia). According to Dr. Le Van Huong, the new findings are published in prestigious international journals specialized in botanical science, which is the pride of the scientific staff working in Bidoup – Nui Ba National Park (Lam Copper) and associates. According to the announcement, the genus Tra my (Camellia) is the largest genus of the Tea family (Theaceae), with more than 300 species recorded globally. Vietnam and China are the two countries recording the most distribution of species of this genus. In recent years, there have been many new discoveries and announcements of species of this genus, which have significantly added to the national and regional biodiversity. Tea my Bidoup – Camellia bidoupensis (Source: National Park Bidoup-Nui Ba). Two new Tra my species were discovered and announced in the first months of 2021, at Bidoup – Nui Ba National Park, including tiny camellia (Camellia flosculora Curry, VS Le, CQ Truong & VD Luong, sp.nov. ) and Tra my Bidoup (Camellia bidoupensis Truong, Luong & Tran, sp.nov.). Tiny flower tea was first sampled in the dwarf forest on the mountain top in the area of ​​Hon Giao, Bidoup National Park – Nui Ba. This is a small to medium, evergreen tree, 3 to 8 meters high, with oblong and hairy, lanceolate leaves. The tree blooms in September – October, is white, with flower sizes from 0.5 to 0.7cm, this is Tra My with the smallest flower size in the world recorded up to the present time. Little flower tea – Camellia flosculora (Source: Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park). Tea my Bidoup is a small to medium tree, evergreen, from 3 to 7 meters high, the bark is gray-brown. The leaves are round or elliptical wide, 8 to 12cm long, 3.5 to 5.5cm wide, and thick. The tree flowers also in September – October, the flowers are white with chicken fat, 2 to 2.5 cm in diameter. This species is named after this species distribution site Bidoupensis, as an affirmation of the authors of its origin. In Vietnam, the genus Tra my has been studied for a long time by typical authors such as: Assoc.Prof. Dr. Tran Ninh, Hanoi National University; Dr. Luong Van Dung, University of Da Lat; Dr. Luu Hong Truong, Institute of Ecology in the South … increase the total number of species of this genus to more than 80 species, by 2021. With Begonia, there are more than 90 species recorded in Vietnam, many species have narrow distribution and endemic. Two species of the begonias recently announced at Bidoup – Nui Ba National Park, Hon Giao (Begonia hongiaoensis CWLin, TCHsu & Luu, sp.nov.) Are named after a mountain mass of biodiversity. Very high in Bidoup National Park – Nui Ba and Thu Hai Duong Dong Road (Begonia lamdongiana CWLin, TCHsu & Luu, sp. nov.). This species is also named after its origin in Lam Dong province, where the species was first discovered and sampled. “The above two species of begonia are the result of the cooperative project” Plant Survey in Langbiang Plateau, Vietnam “between the Botanical Conservation Center Dr. Cecilia Koo (Taiwan), Southern Institute of Ecology. and Bidoup – Nui Ba National Park ”, information Dr. Le Van Huong. Hon Giao – Begonia hongiaoensis (Source: Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park). Hon Giao begonia is a herbaceous plant, 20-30 cm high, leaves are not lobed, not symmetrical, oblong egg-shaped to wide egg, long petiole. Plants flower in January to March every year, white to pale pink petals, yellow stamens merge at the base of the flower. Lam Dong begonia is also a herbaceous plant, 10 cm tall, with many feathers. Fruit hard, light green to cream pink, triangular, 5 to 10 mm long, 4 to 8 mm wide. Leaves and petioles are small, light green to dark pink, 8.5 – 25 cm long, 2.2 – 3.5 mm thick, the leaf blade is asymmetrical, ovoid to lanceolate, 10 – 13 long, 5 cm, 5.5 – 7.5 cm wide, heart-shaped leaf base is clearer than Hon Giao, the underside of leaves is silver with many feathers. Flowers are simple, stalks 12 – 23 mm long, white to pink, blooming in September to November every year. Begonia lamdongiana (Source: Phytotaxa Magazine). The director of Bidoup National Park – Nui Ba, Dr. Le Van Huong said that to be announced a new plant species for science must undergo a rigorous and independent evaluation process by international scientists specializing in In-depth subjects on species, subspecies are close to newly discovered species. From the initial research ideas, determine the survey area, collect, dissect, find the differences, compare with hundreds of domestic and foreign samples and documents, synthesize the results and send to the journals. industry journalism, answering the questions of the independent reviewer. Expanding collaborative research and strengthening field surveys to fully assess the population level and conservation status of plants, focusing on rare species, narrow natural distribution area is a Jobs are essential in biodiversity conservation in Bidoup – Nui Ba National Park. This information is the foundation for developing a conservation strategy, planning and plan suitable for each species or species group on the basis of existing resources. The announcement of four new species for science, originating from Bidoup – Nui Ba National Park, once again affirms the very special biodiversity values ​​in this area.