Fairy Lantern: Nature’s New-Found Unique Parasitic Puzzle

In the fascinating realm of chlorophyll-free “fairy lantern” plants, a new species has been discovered. Fairy lanterns, known scientifically as Thismia, are enigmatic, parasitic herbs that appear otherworldly. Their tiny flowers exhibit psychedelic shapes and vivid colors, evolved specifically to attract fungus gnats and other insects for pollination.

In the Malaysian rainforest, researchers recently reported in PhytoKeys on May 31, a newly identified Thismia species with vibrant saffron-colored flowers emerging just above the thick leaf litter.

By plant standards, Thismia species are truly peculiar. Without chlorophyll, they don’t rely on photosynthesis. Instead, they derive nutrients from underground fungi, which form symbiotic relationships with more traditional plants. Fairy lanterns spend most of their existence underground in mature tropical forests. When they do emerge to flower, they are often easy to overlook due to their small size, only a few centimeters tall.

Botanist Mat Yunoh Siti-Munirah has been documenting the diversity of these parasitic plants in Malaysia. In 2020, one of her colleagues discovered an unusual fairy lantern in the Tengku Hassanal Wildlife Reserve. Subsequently, another colleague found similar specimens in a different Malaysian park. Siti-Munirah then ventured into these rainforests to verify these findings.

Siti-Munirah, from the Forest Research Institute Malaysia in Kepong, notes that searching for Thismia is quite challenging. Finding them requires being in the right place at the right time, and even then, success is not guaranteed despite multiple attempts.

The newly identified fairy lanterns, found among leaf litter and decaying logs, are brown and white, with the only bright color being the rich yellow inside the flower. The top of the flower is adorned with several drab, tentacle-like extensions, reminiscent of a squid or a peculiar fungal fruiting body.

After bringing the specimens back to the lab, Siti-Munirah and her team meticulously examined their physical characteristics and compared them to known fairy lantern species. They concluded that the plants represented a previously unrecognized species, which they named T. malayana. This species is distinct from its closest relatives due to the unique curve of its cup-shaped flower and the brilliant violet pollen-bearing structures inside.

Siti-Munirah likens the documentation of a new species to a “birth certificate for plants.”

She and her colleagues have suggested that T. malayana be classified as vulnerable to extinction. Although both locations where T. malayana has been found are relatively protected, the survey revealed fewer than 10 individual plants. The plant’s subterranean lifestyle further complicates efforts to count mature individuals in these protected forest areas.

There are approximately 100 known species of fairy lanterns, found across tropical regions from South America to Asia and Australia. Historically, these plants have been reported infrequently due to their elusive nature and specialized habitats, according to botanist Kenji Suetsugu of Kobe University in Japan.

In recent years, however, there has been a focused effort by some researchers to explore understudied regions and utilize new technologies like genetic analysis. This has led to the discovery of multiple new species, such as the violet-tendrilled T. paradisiaca in Colombia and the pale, periscopic T. belumensis in Malaysia, the latter described by Siti-Munirah and her colleagues in 2021.

Some species, like the dramatic, trident-like T. neptunis of Borneo, were recently rediscovered after not being seen for over 150 years. Additionally, Suetsugu and his team described a species originally identified from a decades-old museum specimen, believed extinct due to habitat destruction, which was then rediscovered in the wild three years later.

This trend of discovery and rediscovery reflects a growing interest and investment in understanding the biodiversity of these unique plants. Suetsugu suggests that understanding the environmental conditions that support the growth and survival of T. malayana could inform future conservation efforts for these plants.

1. ^{ONLINE NEWS} Buehler, J. (2024, June 17). This tentacled, parasitic “fairy lantern” plant is new to science. Science News. [Science News]
2. ^JOURNAL Siti-Munirah, M. Y., Hardy-Adrian, C., Mohamad-Shafiq, S., Irwan-Syah, Z., & Hamidi, A. H. (2024). Thismia malayana (Thismiaceae), a new mycoheterotrophic species from Peninsular Malaysia. PhytoKeys, 242, 229–239. [PhytoKeys]
3. ^JOURNAL Guzmán-Guzmán, S., & Plata-Torres, A. (2023). A flower in paradise: citizen science helps to discover Thismia paradisiaca (Thismiaceae), a new species from the Chocó Biogeographic region in Colombia. Phytotaxa, 603(1), 27–42. [Phytotaxa]
4. ^JOURNAL Suetsugu, K., Yamana, K., & Okada, H. (2023). Rediscovery of the presumably extinct fairy lantern Thismia kobensis (Thismiaceae) in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, with discussions on its taxonomy, evolutionary history, and conservation. Phytotaxa, 585(2). [Phytotaxa]
5. ^JOURNAL Siti-Munirah, M. Y., Suhaimi-Miloko, Z., & Ahmad, M. I. Z. (2021). Thismia belumensis (Thismiaceae), a remarkable new species from The Royal Belum State Park, Gerik, Perak, Peninsular Malaysia. PhytoKeys, 172, 121–134. [PhytoKeys]
6. ^JOURNAL Suetsugu, K., Nakanishi, O., Kobayashi, T., & Kurosaki, N. (2018). Thismia kobensis (Burmanniaceae), a new and presumably extinct species from Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Phytotaxa, 369(2), 121. [Phytotaxa]