A DISTINCTIVE PLANT, which steals nutrients from underground fungi, has been published as a new species in the open-access journal Phytokeys by botanists from the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in collaboration with local naturalists and stakeholders.
Discovered in the tropical rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia, Thismia malayana belongs to a group of plants known as mycoheterotrophs. Unlike most plants, mycoheterotrophs do not perform photosynthesis. Instead, they act as a parasite, stealing carbon resources from the fungi on their roots.
This adaptation takes advantage of the mycorrhizal symbiosis, which is usually a mutually beneficial relationship between colonising fungi and a plant’s root system.
