Thismia submucronata: A new species of Thismia from Thialand.

Thismias (Thismiaceae) are a small group of Parasitic Plants found throughout the tropics, with a few temperate species known from North America, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. They parasitise the Mycorrhizal Fungi with which all vascular plants have a relationship, but where other plants exchange sugars produced by photosynthesis for nutrients obtained from the soil by the Fungi, Thismias do not photosynthesise, instead taking both nutrients and sugars from the Fungi and giving nothing in return. In order to do this Thismias must target Fungi in relationships with other Plants (since Fungi do not produce sugars), preventing the Thismia from growing to any great size. Thismias are related to Bat Flowers and Arrowroots; they were formerly classified within the (also parasitic) Burmanniaceae, but it is now recognised that while the two groups are fairly closely related, both are more closely related to some non-parasitic plants than they are to each-other.

In a paper published in the journal Taiwania on 24 June 2019, Sahut Chantanaorrapint of the Department of Biology at Prince of Songkla University, Naiyana Tetsana of the Forest Herbarium of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Petch Tripetch of Muang, and Somran Suddee, also of the Forest Herbarium of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, describe a new species of Thismia from the Phu Hin Rong Kla and Phu Suan Sai national parks in northern Thialand.

The new species is named Thismia submucronata, where 'submucronata' meaning 'short-tipped'. The plant is whitish (it does not produce chlorophyll) with white flowers with darker bases, and small, triangular, scale-like leaves. It reaches about 14 cm in height. The species was found growing in two different locations, in both places growing in leaf litter, under the shade of moist evergreen forest, near a waterfall or stream side. The plants were found at altitudes of between 1200 and 1300 m.

Thismia submucronata, plant in natural habitat. Sahut Chantanaorrapint in Chantanaorrapint et al. (2019).

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Thismia nigricoronata: A new species of Parasitic Plant from Laos.

Thismias (Thismiaceae) are a small group of Parasitic Plants found throughout the tropics, with a few temperate species known from North America, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. They parasitize the Mycorrhizal Fungi with which all vascular plants have a relationship, but where other plants exchange sugars produced by photosynthesis for nutrients obtained from the soil by the Fungi, Thismias do not photosynthesise, instead taking both nutrients and sugars from the Fungi and giving nothing in return. In order to do this Thismias must target Fungi in relationships with other Plants (since Fungi do not produce sugars), preventing the Thismia from growing to any great size. Thismias are related to Bat Flowers and Arrowroots; they were formerly classified within the (also parasitic) Burmanniaceae, but it is now recognised that while the two groups are fairly closely related, both are more closely related to some non-parasitic plants than they are to each-other.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 5 September 2017, Pankaj Kumar, Stephen Gale and Ji-Hong Li of the Flora Conservation Department at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Somsanith Bouamanivong of the Biotechnology and Ecology Institute of the Lao Ministry of Science and Technology, and Gunter Fischer, also of the Flora Conservation Department at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, describe a new species of Thismia from Laos.

The new species is named Thismia nigricoronata, where 'nigricoronata' means 'black-crowned'. The species reaches 5.5 cm in height, and is crowned by a dark structure formed from three fused perianth lobes. The species was found on a limestone slope at an altitude of 544 m, in Vang Vieng District of Vientiane Province in Laos. Only ten plants were found, though they were hard to detect and might therefore be more widespread, though Kumar et al. note that the area where the plants were found is a forest without protection, in immediate danger of clearance.

Thismia nigricoronata. (A) Plant in habitat. (B) Habit. (C) Close-up of the crown. (D) Whole plant showing the structure of the crown. (E) Whole plant showing the structure of the annulus. (F) Transverse section of the perianth tube. Kumar et al. (2017).

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A new species of Thismia from northwest Yunnan Province, China.

Thismias (Thismiaceae) are a small group of Parasitic Plants found throughout the tropics, with a few temperate species known from North America, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. They parasitize the Mycorrhizal Fungi with which all vascular plants have a relationship, but where other plants exchange sugars produced by photosynthesis for nutrients obtained from the soil by the Fungi, Thismias do not photosynthesize, instead taking both nutrients and sugars from the Fungi and giving nothing in return. In order to do this Thismias must target Fungi in relationships with other Plants (since Fungi do not produce sugars), preventing the Thismia from growing to any great size. Thismias are related to Bat Flowers and Arrowroots; they were formerly classified within the (also parasitic) Burmanniaceae, but it is now recognized that while the two groups are fairly closely related, both are more closely related to some non-parasitic plants than they are to each-other.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 30 May 2013, Hong-Qing Li and Yu-Ke Bi of the School of Life Sciences at East China Normal University in Shanghai describe a new species of Thismia from Gongshan County in northwestern Yunnan Province, China.

The new species is placed within the genus Thismia (not all Thismias are Thismias), and given the specific name gongshanensis, after the area where it was discovered. Thismia gongshanensis is a 6-10 cm translucent white plant with a single yellowish flower on each erect stem. It spreads by means of creeping rhizomes (buried stems). The species is known from a single area in a Bamboo forest near the village of Maku in Gongshan County, at an altitude of 2275 m above sea level.

A stand of Thismia gongshanensis. Li & Bi (2013).

Diagrammatic drawing of Thismia gongshanensis showing the underground rhizome as well as the visible flowering plant. Li & Bi (2013).

See also A new species of Turmeric from the Bù Gia Mập National Park in southern Vietnam, A new species of Peruvian Lily from the Talamanca Mountains of Panama, A new species of Bromeliad from Tamaulipas State, Mexico, New species of Onion from Kyrgyzstan and New species of Pipewort from Brazil.

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