Danxia orchid, the only orchid species found in Shaoguan Renhua

The strange "Danxia orchid" does not grow leaves all its life.

Danxia orchid is a saprophytic orchid, belonging to the orchid family. Different from other orchids, Danxia orchid labellum has a double saccate structure at the base and Y-shaped appendages on the lip, which are obviously different from all known genera of Orchidaceae.

Danxia orchid is also very different from other leafless flowers in the plant kingdom. Xing Fuwu, a researcher at the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters: "other leafless flowers actually have flowers and leaves, but 'flowers and leaves are not at the same time'. There are no leaves when they bloom, no flowers when they grow long leaves, and flowers and leaves grow in different seasons. On the other hand, Danxia orchid does not grow leaves all its life, so it is very rare. "

I spent my whole life in full bloom only for that short period of more than ten days. A unique orchid hidden in the depths of Red Cliff for tens of millions of years was inadvertently discovered by a traveler at Danxia Mountain, a world heritage site. Yesterday, the Renhua county government and relevant scientific research institutions held a press conference to announce to the media the discovery of the world's unique flowering and leafless "Danxia orchid".

Professor Liu Zhongjian, an orchid expert from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, told reporters that this chic orchid with a bright yellow body and no leaves has been found only in Danxia Mountain, Renhua County, Shaoguan City, and has been named Danxia Orchid. The discovery of Danxia orchid complements the data of the Butailan tribe and provides new evidence for the study of the origin of East Asian-North American geographical flora and the evolution of Orchidaceae.

Growth law

The place of growth varies from year to year, as if the feet are haunting.

Danxialan's discovery stems from a deep mountain "donkey trip" by Zhu Jiaqiang, a senior travel companion in Renhua. On May 1, 2010, Zhu Jiaqiang and several friends went deep into the hinterland of Danxia Mountain to explore the way. Wherever you go, there are inaccessible mountains. Suddenly, he found something strange in a small valley. It is a small clearing in bamboo, full of withered leaves and vines. There is not a single plant in an area of more than ten square meters, but there are about 6 beautiful orchids miraculously growing among the withered leaves on the ground.

Zhu Jiaqiang, a senior local traveler, walked through a large number of no man's land and deep forests in Danxia Mountain, but "I have never seen such a strange-looking orchid." This plant has only flowers but no green leaves, and the flowers are particularly bright and golden. The delicate flowers in full bloom formed a sharp contrast with the withered branches and leaves all over the ground, which immediately attracted Zhu Jiaqiang.

After shooting with his mobile phone, he left the mountains with a lot of doubts. When he got home, Zhu Jiaqiang posted his photos online, but all the orchid enthusiasts and researchers could not tell the exact identity of these strange orchids.

In April 2011, Zhu Jiaqiang returned to the mountain area where strange orchids were discovered last year with strong curiosity, but this time he found that there were no orchids in last year's orchids this year. Unwillingly, Lao Zhu searched around and was finally pleasantly surprised to find more than 20 strange orchids in another valley about 1 km away. The researchers later found that strange orchids grow in different places from year to year, as if they had legs and poked their heads out in different areas.

Zhu Jiaqiang also carefully picked a strange orchid and planted it in a flowerpot at home. But he found something even weirder in his daily observation. Apart from the fact that flowers can be observed outside the soil during the flowering period of more than ten days, nothing can be seen except the soil in the flowerpot.

The rule of survival

No leaves can absorb nutrients by photosynthesis with the help of fungi.

The research team led by Professor Liu Zhongjian of Shenzhen Orchid Plant Protection Research Center and Xing Fuwu researcher of South China Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a systematic study on the strange orchid discovered by Zhu Jiaqiang. According to reports, the number of wild Danxia orchid found so far is very rare, with a total of less than 100 plants since it was discovered so far, and only 21 have been found this year. Danxia orchid likes to grow in damp, dark and inaccessible places in the mountains, so it is difficult to survive by artificial transplantation. At present, it is only found in Renhua in the world, which is unique and precious. Liu Zhongjian said that Danxia orchid is a very narrow distribution species, according to the relevant standards of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is a critically endangered species.

As Danxia orchid is usually difficult to find traces, only in the flowering period will appear mysterious figure, so Danxia orchid also has a nickname "ghost orchid". This strange orchid has no leaves, can not get a lot of nutrients needed for growth through photosynthesis, can only steal nutrients from the surrounding environment to maintain growth.

The researchers humorously said: "Danxia Orchid is like a gang leader, relying entirely on the countless fungi around him as' disciples'to steal nutrients from the environment to survive." There is a mutually beneficial and interdependent relationship between it and fungi. " Because its growth is extremely dependent on the fungi in the unique Danxia landscape, it is extremely difficult for humans to survive when it is transplanted to other places.