A New Species Of Flower With Red, Devil-Like Horns Was Found In Big Bend National Park
The Chihuahuan Desert is known as the largest desert in North America. The remote region makes up part of Big Bend National Park in Texas.
It is also home to a brand-new species of colorful flower with bright red, devil-like horns. A park volunteer snapped a photo of the plant in the dusty basin and shared it on a social media platform for pictures of flora and fauna.
“While many assume that the plants and animals within our country’s national parks have probably been documented by now, scientists still make surprising new discoveries in these iconic protected landscapes,” said Isaac Lichter Marck, a researcher with the California Academy of Sciences.
Soon after the photo was posted, researchers headed to Big Bend National Park to get a closer look at the never-before-seen flower.
They performed a DNA analysis and compared it to other known specimens before confirming that the plant was both a new species and a new genus.
According to the California Academy of Sciences, it is the first time in about 50 years that a new genus of plant has been discovered in a U.S. national park.
The research team calls it the woolly devil because of the dense, furry fibers covering its leaves and the red-and-white blooms that sprout from its center.
The plant’s scientific name, Ovicula biradiata, honors the bighorn sheep that occupy the rocky expanse of the park. The woolly devil’s closest relative is a plant that looks much gentler and is very well-known.
“O. biradiata is a member of the sunflower family, although it does not resemble its sunburst-shaped relatives at first glance,” said Marck.
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“After sequencing its DNA and comparing it with other specimens in the Academy’s herbarium, we discovered that this small, fuzzy plant is not only a new species within the sunflower group, but it is also distinct enough from its closest relatives to warrant an entirely new genus.”
The woolly devil looks tough—and it certainly has to be to survive in Big Bend. However, it’s also small and more delicate than it seems. The flowers are one to three inches in diameter and poke out from crevices in rocks and stones.
They don’t live long and grow in decent numbers, but they can only be found in three locations within a narrow range inside the park, suggesting that it is extremely sensitive to changing weather patterns.
The northernmost corner of the park, where the woolly devil was observed, has been under severe drought conditions. The region is predicted to become more arid due to climate change.
The researchers noted that the woolly devil is under a high threat of extinction. Even though this plant was just discovered, it could already be dying off. Since the woolly devil is so vulnerable, its exact locations have remained a secret for its protection.
The findings were published in PhytoKeys.
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