A new tree species, "Libo Mallotus," has been discovered in Guizhou.

The image shows "Libo Mallotus." (Photographed by Xu Jian)

Chinese researchers have discovered a tree with extremely wrinkled leaves in Maolan National Nature Reserve, located in Libo County, Qiandongnan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. After research, it was confirmed that this tree species is a new species of the Mallotus genus in the Euphorbiaceae family. The researchers named it "Libo Mallotus" after the discovery site, Libo County, and this research achievement was published in an international botanical taxonomy journal on the specified date.

Yu Jianghong, the first author of the paper and a PhD candidate at the School of Life Sciences of Guizhou University, introduced that "Libo Mallotus" is an evergreen shrub or small tree characterized by leathery leaves with extremely wrinkled surfaces, and is exclusively distributed in the karst forests within the Maolan National Nature Reserve where the rock exposure rate exceeds %.

Habitat and morphological characteristics of "Libo Mallotus" (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

The corresponding author of the paper and team leader, Professor An Mingtai from the School of Forestry, Guizhou University, introduced that many years ago, the research team from the School of Forestry, Guizhou University, had been paying attention to this tree species during their plant community monitoring in the Maolan National Nature Reserve. They had long been frustrated by the lack of flower and fruit specimens. Last year, between January and February, the team observed it flowering and fruiting during the first round of plant survey and monitoring in the Maolan large plot and the biodiversity survey in the Maolan National Nature Reserve. After further morphological and molecular systematic studies, it was confirmed to be a new species.

The reporter learned from the Maolan National Nature Reserve Administration that currently, the reserve is home to national key protected wild plant species, higher plants with Libo as their type locality, and endemic higher plant species in the reserve. The discovery of "Libo Mallotus" has added a new member to the Euphorbiaceae family and further confirmed the biodiversity of the Maolan National Nature Reserve.