Jan 9 2026
Every year, botanists describe hundreds of new plants and fungi from across the Earth. Many of these newly described species come from the tropics of South America and Asia, but new species are also described from otherwise well-known floras such as North America. In 2025, NYBG Science Curators & Researchers described 46 species as new to science! NYBG Science Curators also revised an additional 6 species, creating an improved and more refined understanding of the evolutionary tree of life.
Systematics is the science of classifying biodiversity. Important in its own right, systematics also directly impacts conservation: we cannot conserve a species if we do not recognize it as distinct, do not have a name for it, and do not understand its evolutionary relationships to other species. A 2010 paper estimated there are approximately 70,000 plant species that remain to be described, and that natural history collections such as the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium are a primary source for finding new species. NYBG is a global leader in systematics and biodiversity science, and many of the species we describe face acute conservation concerns.
Enjoy these stories about the impactful biodiversity work of NYBG Science Curators & Researchers in 2025!
Newly Described Species
Abtylopilus australiensis. A new Australian species of mushroom, it is most closely related to species from China and Indonesia.
Abtylopilus indonesiensis. A new mushroom related to porcini, this species is known from rainforests on the island of Java in Indonesia.
Astropanax eogetem. This a new extinct genus in the ginseng family (Araliaceae) described from 22 million year-old Ethiopian fossilized leaves and pollen. This new genus is the earliest known occurrence of this family in Africa.
Bertolonia crassicaulis. This small herbaceous plant has beautiful lavender colored flowers and unusually thickened stems and leaves, likely an adaptation to its seasonal habitat. It is also extremely rare, currently known from a single location in eastern Brazil.
Blakea viridis. Unusually for the genus Blakea, this new species has pendant green flowers, hence the species name (viridis is Latin for "green").
Carex section Triquetrellae. For very large genera with hundreds or thousands of species, botanists will use the grouping of "Section" to help organize this diversity. The sedge genus Carex, with over 2000 species, is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. An international team of botanists reviewed all of the 593 Section names in Carex. One of four new names they published in this paper is Carex section Triquetrellae.
Chalybea boliviensis. The name of this species reflects that it is the first known species of Chalybea to occur in Bolivia, extending the distribution of the genus almost 1,400 km southward!
Cystodium parasorbifolium. This a new species of extinct fern discovered in a piece of mid-Creraceous Myanmar amber.
Goodyera ixcanula. A new orchid from Guatemala, this species is only known from a single site on the Volcán de Acatenango. The name of this species is derived from the local Maya Family Kaqchikel language word for "volcano," ixcanul.
Goodyera mexitesselata. Not all newly described species are rare; such is the case with G. mexitesselata, which is commonly found across in the mountainous Pine-Oak forests of south-central Mexico. The leaf veins are beautifully outlined in silver.
Henrietta colanensis. Named for the Cordillera de Colan in northern Peru, this new species has an unusual type of inflorescence (flower stalk) compared to its relatives.
Henriettea pedunculata. This new species is extremely rare, collected once in 2007 from northern Peru. A return trip to the location in 2024 did not locate any living individuals, and much of the original landscape has been converted to pasture.
Iguanura beccarii. A new palm from the island of Borneo named for Odoardo Beccari (1843-1920). Beccari was an Italian botanist who made significant contributions to the study of the Malesian flora, and is considered to be one of the greatest botanists to have studied the plants of the region, having described over 1,600 new species.
Iguanura bruneiensis. Only known from a single swampy coastal forest on the island of Borneo, this new palm is named for the sultanate of Brunei Darussalam.
Iguanura exilis. This new palm occurs in species-rich Dipterocarp forests, which are among some of the most diverse forests on Earth.
Iguanura grandis. As the name suggests, this new species of palm is larger than similar looking species. It is currently only known from a single collection from the Malaysian side of Borneo.
Iguanura lunata. Differentiated from its relatives by the bumpy surface of its fruit, this new palm is only known from a single collection from Malaysian Borneo
Iguanura mogeae. This new palm is named in honor of Indonesia botanist Johanis Palar Mogea (1947-2023). Mogea described 16 new species from Indonesia.
Iguanura montana. Growing in the mountainous border region between southwestern Malaysia and Indonesia on the island of Borneo, this new palm has a dense coating of hairs on its leaf sheaths.
Iguanura sarawakensis. Named for the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo, this new palm grows in high elevation rainforests.
Iguanura tomentosa. Similar in many respects to I. montana, this new species of palm is differentiated by its fruits.
Mappianthus kachiensis. Mappianthus is a poorly known genus of woody vines, and the discovery of this new species increases the number of known species in it to at least three. The species name refers to Kachin State, in northern-most Myanmar.
Neoporphyrellus. This new genus was described after molecular data found that a genus of mushrooms that was previously thought to span the globe represented many different genera with discrete continental distributions.
Parablechnum talamancanum. Research on Central American ferns found that the specimen the name Parablechnum christii was based on actually represented a different species; in essence this name had been missapplied to the wrong group of ferns. Thus, the ferns that had been called P. christii were in need of a new name: Parablechnum talamancanum.
Phanera htamanthiensis. Named for the Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary in Northern Myanmar, this rare new legume is only known from two collections, and should be listed as an Endangered species. The northern forests of Myanmar face acute threats from amber and gold mining.
Quipuanthus calcaratus. This new species is only the second species of the genus Quipuanthus (and first for Colombia). The other known species is found in Ecuador and Colombia.
Sciodaphyllum antisanense. This endangered species in the ginseng family (Arailiaceae) is only known from Napo Province, Ecuador, where it occurs in the Antisana Ecological Reserve situated in the Guacamayos mountains.
Sciodaphyllum austroviolaceum. Not all new species are rare, such is the case with Sciodaphyllum austroviolaceum, which grows across a large region of Andean Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. This species also grows further south than any of its close relatives, and has the much larger leaves and flowers stalks (inflorescences) compared to its relatives, which can be several feet in diameter!
Sciodaphyllum bassianum. This new species is named in honor of Edward P. Bass, who has for his support of plant science and conservation, including at NYBG. In addition, Bass served as Director of the World Wildlife Fund, founder of the ecological nonprofit Philecology Trust, co-founder and vice chair of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, supporter of the Jane Goodall Institute and the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation, and a founding chair of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Leadership Council and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies External Advisory Board.
Sciodaphyllum bonitense. The name of this rare new species the Parroquia La Bonita, Ecuador, where the specimens were collected. The town of La Bonita, which is the seat of Sucumbíos Canton, bears the same name as the stream that runs through it, coined by rubber tappers. La Bonita was settled in the 1930s and 1940s by several families who moved there from Carchi Province. Today, its ca. 500 residents are engaged in agriculture, raising livestock, forestry, and handicrafts.
Sciodaphyllum boylei. Named in honor of Bradley L. Boyle, research scientist at the University of Arizona and senior associate at Hardner & Gullison Associates, who made the second collection of this new ginseng relative in 1993 while conducting fieldwork for his PhD research.
Sciodaphyllum caduciligulatum. Named for its "caducous ligule," or a flap of tissue at the base of the leaf that falls off early in leaf development, compared to its relatives that retain this tissue for much longer.
Sciodaphyllum clarkii. Named for botanist John L. Clark, a specialist on the African Violet family (Gesneriaceae) who has made over 14,500 collections in Ecuador; this very rare new species is known only from a single site.
Sciodaphyllum fimbriocalyx. This endangered new species is only known from along the road leading from Baeza to Cosanga in Napo Province, Ecuador, and its cloud forest habitat is highly threatened.
Sciodaphyllum guacamayosense. This endangered new species in the ginseng family (Arailiaceae) is known only from the eastern slope of the Andes, whereas its closest relative is found in the central mountains of Ecuador
Sciodaphyllum merense. This rare new species in the ginseng family is Critically Endangered, only known from a single specimen collected 40 year ago, and the original site has been cleared for agriculture. There is a high probability that it is now extinct.
Sciodaphyllum napoense. One of the 11 known sites for this new species has been destroyed by the Quijos Cosanga hydroelectric project, in Ecuador.
Sciodaphyllum neillii. This new ginseng relative honors David A. Neill (1953-2025), an American botanists who lived and worked in Ecuador to document, study, and conserve its exceptionally rich flora, and to pass his knowledge and experience on to the next generations of Ecuadorian botanists. Neill collected over 19,000 plant specimens and described 45 new species and 2 new genera over his career.
Sciodaphyllum occidentale. This new species is found on the western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, and has enormous flower heads (inflorescences).
Sciodaphyllum palaciosii. The species is named in honor of Walter Palacios, an Ecuadorian engineer, prolific field botanist, and specialist on Neotropical Meliaceae, who has made nearly 19,000 collections, contributing greatly to our knowledge of Ecuador's flora.
Sciodaphyllum rubioi. The name of this new species honors the Ecuadorian forester Daniel Rubio, who collected the original specimens in 1990. Of his 2,400 plant collections, (at least) 43 have proven to represent new plant species!
Sciodaphyllum tenuicaute. The name of this new ginseng relative indicates its extremely slender stems, which are just 3-5 millimeters (ca. 0.19 inches) in diameter (tenuis is Latin for thin).
Sciodaphyllum unifoliolatum. Members of the ginseng family are often charcterized by leaves with subdivisions (leaflets) that look like a hand with extended fingers (palmate). This new species is unusual in that the number of leaf subdivisions have been reduced to just one, hence unifoliolatum (Latin for "one-leaved").
Sciodaphyllum zakii. This species is named in honor of Vlastimil Zak (1959-2020), who made the first four collections 1986. He established a private research station in 1978, and the Ecuadorian government approved its designation as a protected private reserve in 1995. An important Ecuadorian botanists, Zak served for many years as a curator at the QUSF herbarium, and he collected more than 4,500 plant specimens, including at least 39 new species, and was a specialist on the systematics and ethnobotany of Solanaceae.
Swartzia neglecta. This species name of this new species in the legume family relates to the fact that it has been overlooked since its first collection in 1857. It waited 168 years to be recognized!
Tsiramiramia. This new genus name is from the Malagasy language, meaning “false Protium,” as it was initially described as a species of Protium from Madagascar.
Newly Revised Species
Iguanura australis. First described as a variety of I. borneensis from the southeastern coast of Malaysian Borneo, NYBG Curator Emeritus Andrew Henderson elevated this palm to full species status.
Iguanura magna. From the mountainous border of Bornean Malaysia and Indonesia, this palm was originally described as a variety of I. palmuncula before NYBG Curator Emeritus Andrew Henderson elevated it to full species status.
Meriania franciscana. NYBG Curator Fabain Michelangelli and colleagues discovered that this species, which was previously known from Ecuador and northern Peru, also occurred in Bolivia.
Najas muenscheri. Aquatic Najas muenscheri was recently treated as a synonym of the widespread, common Najas canadensis. However, a new study led by a team of NYBG researchers indicate that N. muenscheri is in fact not only a distinct species from Najas canadensis, but that it is Endangered, restricted to intertidal habitats in three estuaries of the northeastern US.
Neoporphyrellus alboater. Samples of mushrooms growing here at NYBG were included in the molecular study to support the description of the genus Neoporphyrellus from the genus Tylopilus.
Neoporphyrellus atronicotianus. This mushroom occurs from western New York state to West Virginia. It also changed genera.
