Uncovering a New Genus: The Fascination of the Japanese Fairy Lantern
SCIENTISTS have uncovered a new genus of plant in Japan for the first time in nearly a century. The plant is known as a fairy lantern and grows up to 3 centimeters tall and 2 centimeters wide.
The Discovery of the Fairy Lantern Plant in Japan
Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. In plants, photosynthesis generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll. Fairy lanterns, on the other hand, do not possess chlorophyll for photosynthesis. Instead, they eat fungi for sustenance – a practice that is considered “alien” compared to the more familiar, photosynthetic plants, as mentioned in a new study.
The Unique Traits of the Fairy Lantern Plant
An amateur botanist stumbled upon the fairy lantern plant in the Kimotsuki mountains on the island of Kyushu in Japan in 2022. However, the plant was not officially confirmed as a new genus until recently due to the elaborate classification process. Remarkably, the fairy lantern plant spends most of its life underground and only emerges above ground for as little as a week each year. Researchers have identified only five individual plants in a single location and estimate that the total population of the plant does not exceed 50.
The Enigmatic Beauty of the Fairy Lantern: Squid-Like or Extraterrestrial?
“The unique appearance of this new plant species does evoke images of squids or extraterrestrial beings,” according to study author Kenji Suetsugu from Kobe University in Japan. He added that this distinctive characteristic makes the fairy lantern plant a truly unusual and captivating addition to the botanical world. Suetsugu hopes that the Japanese government will grant the plant endangered species protection. The scientists have proposed the Japanese name for the plant as ‘mujina-no-shokudai,’ which roughly translates to “raccoon dog’s candleholder.”