Remarkable palm genus from Vietnam **new-to-science today**

[Bill Baker (Kew)]

Today, a new palm genus from Vitenam,Truongsonia lecongkietii, was published. This new palm is so peculiar that it required not only a new genus, but also a new tribe in the classification of palms (Truongsonieae) to accommodate it. Most extrpardinarily, its closest relative is the African genus Podococcus! It may be diminutive and unspectacular, but botanically it is even more remarkable than the discovery of Tahina (personal opinion, of course - I realise that this is heresy!) Unfortunately, only 10-15 plants are known in the wild, rendering it Critically Endangered. 

You can follow the link below to freely download the full article pdf, which is heavily illustrated for photographs. 

https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.613.3.1

[Jadd Correia]

Very cool to discover new species let alone multiple orders up! Awesome. 

[Darold Petty]

Dr. Baker, thank you so much for posting this information !  

[Mnazi]

Fascinating. I will read the paper later today. Thank you for sharing.

[Palmarum]

A new addition to the Palm world, incredible. This is part of what makes plant exploring so rewarding.

The new genus gives an idea of how much is still out there waiting to be discovered.

Ryan

 

[ASHCVS]

Thank you so much Bill for posting this on Palm talk. Thrilling stuff!

[happypalms]

Truly amazing story behind this new palm thank you for your hard work in introducing this palm to the world 

[Chris WCT]

 

Great work, what an amazing find. Excited to hear about the conservation work that follows. 
 

Chris