New Species of Butterfly Orchid is Rarest in Europe

It turns out that scientists are discovering new species all of the time. Researchers have just uncovered a species of butterfly orchid in the Azores, revealing it to actually be the rarest species in Europe.

The researchers were actually studying speciation of butterfly orchids in the Azores. There, they found that what was once considered one species was actually three species. More specifically, the newly-recognized Hochstetter's Butterfly-orchid is now under threat in its mountain-top retreat and urgently requires conservation recognition.

During the course of their research, the scientists aimed to study the origin of species of these butterfly-orchids. In order to do so, they explored all nine Azorean islands. They soon discovered that butterfly-orchids first colonized the Azores from the Mediterranean rather than from North America. They then rapidly underwent miniaturization of their ancestrally large flowers. Yet the findings became a bit more complicated when the scientists discovered an unusual population of butterfly orchids within remote dwarfed laurisilva forests along the highest volcanic ridge on the central island of Sao Jorge.

"I immediately recognized the flowers as being exceptionally large for an Azorean butterfly-orchid," said Monica Moura, one of the researchers, in a news release.

The researchers gathered data and then used several analytical techniques in the laboratory while studying this unusual orchid. In the end, the scientists realized that they had discovered a new species, Platanthera azorica. Not only that, but this species originated relatively recently by a remarkable restoration of the large-flowered morphology of its presumed mainland ancestor.

Currently, the researchers are attempting to obtain conservation protection for the newly-recognized and exceptionally rare orchid.

"This remarkable species languished unrecognized for 173 years," said Richard Bateman, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Its rediscovery and recognition beautifully illustrate the value of integrating field-based and laboratory-based approaches to generate a modern monograph. This methodology both demonstrates that the species is genuine and allows us to make informed recommendations for its future conservation."

The findings are published in the journal PeerJ.