It's a mess. Is this an "orchid" or a "shrimp"? A new species has been discovered in my country!

Staff from the Yunnan Tongbiguan Provincial Nature Reserve Management Bureau and a team of experts from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University recently discovered a species of orchid that is very similar to the sickle-calyx orchid while conducting a plant resource survey in the Yunnan Tongbiguan Provincial Nature Reserve. Through morphological and molecular systematic research, the species was determined to be a new species of the genus Orchidaceae and was named Yingjiang Orchid after its place of discovery . The relevant research results were recently published in the international academic journal Phytotaxa.

Yingjiang shrimp orchid (Source: video screenshot)

It is understood that Yingjiang Shrimp Orchid is similar to Sickle-calyx Shrimp Orchid, but the difference is that Yingjiang Shrimp Orchid has an oval yellow spot in the middle of the lip and four purple veins close to the base of the column; the triangular lateral lobes of the lip are significantly smaller than the middle lobe; and the lateral sepals curl downward.

At present, Yingjiang shrimp orchid is only found in Yingjiang County, Yunnan Province, and grows under the forest at an altitude of 1,600 to 1,800 meters.

The genus is the largest genus of the tribe Orchidaceae, with more than 220 species distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia, Australia, Madagascar, Africa, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. There are about 60 species of the genus in China, 23 of which are endemic. The discovery of Yingjiang Orchid will provide researchers with more relevant information about the genus and help reveal its adaptive characteristics in the evolutionary process.

It is understood that in traditional medicine, plants of the genus Echinops have important medicinal value. In addition, some species of this genus are often used as tonics and analgesics for joint pain and toothache. At present, a variety of compounds have been identified from Echinops species, including alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolic compounds and derivatives, phenanthrenequinone compounds, etc. These compounds show many valuable pharmacological activities, such as hair repair, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, liver protection, anti-platelet aggregation, as well as antibacterial and antifungal.

Comprehensive sources: Xinhuanet, CCTV News, National Botanical Garden, etc.