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Botanists described a new flowering plant species, Thismia daemona, in the journal PhytoKeys, nicknamed the 'devil flower' for its dark, horned appearance.
It was found in Thong Pha Phum National Park in western Thailand during a 2025 field survey, at 950-970 metres in seasonal montane forest.
The plant is mycoheterotrophic - it has no chlorophyll, does not photosynthesise, and draws nutrients from underground fungal networks.
It belongs to Thismia section Geomitra, previously known only from Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo, so the find extends that group's range northwards.
Fewer than 50 individuals are known and the species has been provisionally assessed as Critically Endangered.
Most plants feed themselves by photosynthesis. A mycoheterotroph has given that up - it has no chlorophyll and taps a fungus in the soil for carbon and minerals, the fungus in turn often drawing carbon from nearby trees. The plant is effectively a parasite on a partnership.
Simple Analogy: Tapping into someone else's supply line instead of growing your own food.
Thong Pha Phum National Park lies in Kanchanaburi Province in western Thailand, in the hills along the Myanmar border. This is seasonal montane evergreen forest - higher and markedly drier than the humid lowland rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo, where the rest of section Geomitra occurs.
India has its own chlorophyll-free flowering plants, notably Sapria himalayana in Arunachal Pradesh - but that is a holoparasite drawing directly from a host vine's roots, not a mycoheterotroph feeding through fungi. The distinction is a standard exam trap.
Mycoheterotrophs exploit the same fungal networks that normally trade soil nutrients to trees in return for sugars - the association exams call mycorrhiza.
A single population of fewer than 50 individuals in a tiny area is exactly the profile that triggers a Critically Endangered assessment.
GS Paper III > Environment: biodiversity, plant nutrition, IUCN assessment
General Science > Botany: plant nutrition and classification
Regarding Peacock tarantula (Gooty tarantula), consider the following statements: I. It is an omnivorous crustacean. II. Its natural habitat in India is only limited to some forest areas. III. In its natural habitat, it is an arboreal species. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: II and III
A nutritional mode in which a plant depends on fungi rather than photosynthesis for carbon and minerals.
The common name for plants of the genus Thismia, from the lantern-like shape of their flowers.
The highest IUCN Red List threat category before Extinct in the Wild.