“The Ugliest Orchid in the World” Among the Top 10 Species New to Science in 2020

The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew announced that one hundred and fifty-six (156) plant and fungal species have been named by the Kew scientists and their partners around the globe this year.

“Despite 2020’s challenges, botanical and mycological science has continued with a bumper list of incredible newly named species being documented with the help of our collaborators across the world,” stated Dr. Martin Cheek, the Senior Research Leader of the Africa and Madagascar team within Kew’s Identification and Naming department.

Just on December 17, 2020, Dr. Cheek, has revealed the list they call the “Top 10 Species New to Science in 2020.” And among the plants that made it to their top ten species is the plant they dubbed as the “ugliest orchid in the world.”

The Ugliest Orchid in the World

Source: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

When talking about orchids, people usually think of them as vibrant and beautiful, but one among the newly named species this 2020 does not fit in such a description.

The orchid Gastrodia agnicellus from a forest in Madagascar is labeled by Kew as the ugliest orchid in the world. As described by Dr. Cheek, the flowers of this orchid are small, brown and rather ugly.

“The new orchid has been assessed as threatened, but with a small range occurring within an already protected national park, the plants do have some protection for now,” Dr. Cheek stated.

More details on the Gastrodia agnicellus were published in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine on November 5, 2020. The original article is called the “GASTRODIA AGNICELLUS A new holomycotrophic orchid from southeast Madagascar Orchidaceae” authored by Johan Hermans, an Honorary Research Associate at Kew.

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