The New Trees on the Block

Botanists and research technicians from the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, have named six new tree species for science.

Of these six, three of the new species have only been found in Panama: Matisia petaquillae, Matisia changuinolana and Matisia aquilarum.

The first two Panamanian species were named in reference to the places where they were collected and the third, Matisia aquilarum, found in Chagres National Park, was named in reference to the presence of a Harpy eagle nest in the tree.?

Botanists often collect large numbers of plant samples that are dried, pressed between pieces of cardboard, and then mounted on a special cardboard and filed in the herbariums, carefully stored in environmentally controlled spaces for long-term preservation of specimens.?

But it still depends on expert plant taxonomists to identify the samples. Plant specimens that cannot be easily identified can wait years until the expert in a particular group of plants compares collections from across the region and has the final say on whether a sample represents a species that no one has encountered before.

Discoveries like this, remind us how important it is to make sure that protected areas, like the Mamoní Valley in Panama, are really well protected. This Valley, located at the narrowest point of the Americas, is one of the world’s most vital wildlife corridors and biodiversity hotspots, and home to many plant species.

#Botanist #Taxonomist #Herbarium #Species #Panama