We are more than accustomed to seeing species of animals and strange plants.Creatures many times with terrifying aspects or unusual characteristics.Sometimes the rarity lies not only in their appearance, but is their way of living or surviving.that we dedicate to the Helicoprion, a shark with the jaw in the shape of a circular saw, is a good example of a strange species, although the latter belongs to the prehistoric.In today's article, we will talk about a strange underground flower discovered near a river in the town of Borneo.As we will see, on many occasions, the flora and fauna of this planet that we inhabit seems to come from the same space, or be taken from a good science fiction movie.What capricious is nature!
An underground flower?
The flower we are going to talk about is called Thisma neptunis and was discovered in 1866 by Odoardo Beccari , Italian explorer and botanist.After that discovery, never heard of this strange flower again.
After more than 150 years, in 2017, a team of scientists from the Czech Republic came up against this rare underground flower. The researchers were lucky enough to realize that something sticks out of the mud, since this strange flower only goes outside a couple of weeks a year.The Thisma neptunis lives in the jungle Tropical of Sarawak, which is one of the two states of Malaysia on the island of Borneo.This particular location makes contact with humans very unusual and is the reason that so many years have passed without having proof of having been seen./p>
The Thisma neptunis is also known as the "fairy lantern" although it should not be confused with the lily, which often re Cibe the same nickname.The flowering of Thisma is difficult to detect because it does not have a great height, only 9 centimeters, but if you run into it, you would hardly lose sight of it because of its special characteristics.This strange underground flower is composed of 3 vertical spindles that might look like antennas. Really, their appearance, as we said before, seems to be taken from a science fiction movie , and surely that was what caught Beccari's attention in 1866, who decided to draw it and let us record its discovery.Thanks to that illustration of the strange underground flower, we can be absolutely sure that it is the same flower that the team of researchers in Borneo discovered in 2017.
A life underground
Keep in mind that the T.neptunis is much more than that small and strange flower, which appears only with the mission of tempting pollinating insects that can propagate their species, that one objective common to all flowers.What is really curious about the whole plant itself is its survival since it does not have green chlorophyll, and it does not need it either, since the sun's rays do not reach underground, so it can hardly accumulate light solar to do photosynthesis.So how is it possible for it to survive? The answer is fungi that usually live very close to this underground flower.
The T.neptunis belongs to a species mycoheterotroph , which survive by eliminating underground fungi that depend on the photosynthesis of the plants that are on the ground.The visible part of this plant, that is the flower, has an appearance, as we have said, that resembles a flower, but it is its internal part, the one that is not visible, that acquires a much more strange appearance.Alli the plant adopts a sinuous network form of roots that extend from a central bulb and that seek to adhere to a fungus.It is another example of how capricious Mother Nature is that, when we believe that we have proof of all the animals and plants that inhabit the planet, she hits us with a species even rarer than the known ones and even with a life system that had not been seen to date.
The lantern Fairy could be considered one of the strangest plants on the planet but we assure you that it is not the only one.There are truly amazing species that challenge even the most creative minds.
As we see, nature never ceases to amaze us, neither in impossible forms nor in increasingly rocambolesque ways of life, as the example that we have brought you in today's article about this strange species.What do you think of this strange underground flower? Have you heard of her? Do you know other rare species that you want to share with us? We encourage you to leave your comments about rare species that have caught your attention We will be happy to read you!
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