A new species of fairy lantern, named Thismia Selangorensis, has been discovered in the Hulu Langat Forest Reserve, Selangor. So, what should you know about it?
It’s a small parasitic plant that relies on soil fungi
For your information, it is only 10 cm tall and gets its name from its lantern-like appearance and three delicate antennae. Fairy lanterns are mycoheterotrophic plants without chlorophyll that cannot carry out photosynthesis to survive and rely entirely parasitically on soil fungi for nutrition.
Despite its recent discovery, Thismia selangorensis has been placed on the IUCN Red List of Critically Endangered Plants because only around 20 individuals are known to exist in the wild. It is estimated that there are only four Thismia selangorensis in an area of 1 km².
Moreover, the discovery was made by Tan Gim Siew in November 2023 while visiting the Chongkak River Eco Park in the Hulu Langat Forest Reserve. The habitat of this fairy lantern is damp forest areas, with rotting leaves and near the roots of large trees by the river.
Furthermore, one of the reasons it is endangered because it is close to recreational areas, which makes it vulnerable to being trampled by visitors and flooding. This year has been an exciting one in terms of new and lost species discoveries in Malaysia.
The Fairy Lantern is not the only new species discovered in 2025
Last June, the Gombak bent-winged firefly (Pteroptyx Gombakia), last seen alive in 1921, was rediscovered by Tan Wei Jack, a research assistant and undergraduate student in environmental science at Monash University Malaysia. The research paper on the findings has been published in the journal Phytokeys.
Stay tuned to TechNave.com for more updates.
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