3 July, 2023: What is this rare palm that flowers and bears fruits underground? Keep reading to know more!
What is referred to as the only known member of the palm family that blossoms and fruits almost totally underground has been discovered by Dr. Benedikt Kuhnhäuser, a future leader researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who was a member of the research team that gathered specimens and confirmed that it was a new species and its partners.
The study's results were released in the PALMS journal on Monday.
The newly discovered species of plant was given the Latin name Pinanga subterranea, which means "underground," in recognition of its unique characteristics.
Why is the plant so special?
While a majority of flowering plants have evolved to develop their flowers and fruit above ground since it helps with pollination and the dispersal of seeds, there is a small population of plants that have evolved to carry out this process underground.
Pinanga subterranea is a special kind of palm tree that does something really unique.
It joins a group of more than 2,500 palm tree species that scientists have discovered so far. But what makes it even more special is that it's one of at least 171 species from different plant families that can do something really cool. They can make flowers and fruits underground!
Photograph: Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
It's like a secret garden happening beneath the ground. This process is called geoflory for the flowers and geocarpy for the fruits. Not many plants can do this, so it's really fascinating.
Scientists are still learning about these amazing plants and how they grow and survive underground. It's like solving a puzzle, and every new discovery helps us understand the natural world better.
Pollination- Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred from the male part of a flower to the female part, allowing the production of seeds. Pollination plays a crucial role in the life cycle of flowering plants, allowing them to produce fruits and seeds for reproduction and maintaining the diversity and survival of plant species.
Geoflory- Geoflory is a fascinating process that some plants use to make their flowers. It's like a hidden magic show happening beneath the ground! Instead of having their flowers grow above the surface like most plants, these special plants create their flowers right below the ground.
Geocarpy- Geocarpy is a really interesting and unique way that some plants make their fruits. It's like a special secret garden hidden underground!This is really cool because it helps protect the fruits from animals or harsh weather conditions.When the fruits are ready, they stay underground until something comes along to dig them up or help spread the seeds.
Pinanga subterranea is a very unique plant because it does geocarpy and geoflory at once.Now, this is a bit puzzling for scientists because usually, plants that need insects for pollination have their flowers above the ground, where insects can easily reach them. But Pinanga subterranea grows its flowers and fruits underground, where insects can't easily go.But here's the exciting part: even though the flowers are underground, the plant still manages to make a lot of seeds and fruits! This means that somehow, there is a secret way that the flowers are getting pollinated, but scientists haven't figured it out yet.
Where was the plant discovered?
The tropical island of Borneo in Southeast Asia is home to the plant and its fruit, which are well-known among the people who live there.
The major rainforests of western Borneo, from Malaysia's Sarawak to Indonesia's Kalimantan, are home to the plant, according to the international research team.
Picture source: https://www.borneoecotours.com
Some of the natives even eat the brightly coloured fruit, which is reported to be sweet and juicy.
The palm was first observed in Kalimantan in 2017, according to Agusti Randi, an Indonesian researcher at the National University of Singapore and the primary author of a new study published in Plants, People, Planet and Palms (the Journal of the International Palm Society). Randi said, "I realized the stems, flowers, and fruit were underground after the earth was dug up by boars, thus it was as if the boars guided me to find this palm.”
The people of a small town in central Kalimantan already knew about the palm tree, as a delicious snack when they enter the forest, they have been consuming the fruits of this palm tree. With a soft and healthy flesh, the fruits are sweet. Though the palm tree was well-known to the locals, it was interesting that scientists had never before observed it. This shows the value of scientific teamwork and the value of taking advantage of native communities' knowledge.
Today, most botanists focus on how plants survive above ground.Because the event is believed to be so very unusual, they hardly ever look for flowers and fruit underground. The recent discovery of the new underground palm serves as a reminder to scientists to look beyond the immediately obvious and prepare for the unexpected.