Thismia paradisiaca: A weird species described from an iNaturalist observation

A new species , Thismia paradisiaca (Thismiaceae), discovered on the basis of a record at the iNaturalist platform is described and illustrated. The new species is recorded for the Pacific slope of the Western Cordillera of the Andes. It is assigned to sect. Ophiomeris , differing from all the other species of the section by having dimorphic stamens, incurved upper outer tepal, and lateral outer tepals slightly revolute at their bases. In addition, pollen morphology of T. paradisiaca is described, and interaction of pollen with a dipteran found inside the floral chamber is discussed. Finally, a distribution map of the genus in Colombia and a taxonomic key for the subgen. Ophiomeris are provided.

https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.603.1.2

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I was not prepared for how weird that was going to look

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Thanks for mentioning this; I saw it in Phytotaxa and hadn’t gotten around to posting!

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What a cool looking plant! I wonder how many other undescribed species have been photographed on inaturalist that might get described in the near future.

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We have an Exoprosopa bee fly and numerous undescribed galls in New Mexico waiting for interested academics

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Amazing!

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