Two new plant species discovered at Vu Quang National Park

ABO/NDO- Scientists have announced the discovery of two new species of the Lasianthus genus in the family Rubiaceae at Vu Quang National Park in Vietnam’s central province of Ha Tinh.

The two species, Lasianthus vuquangensis and Lasianthus hatinhensis, were named after the two geographical names Vu Quang and Ha Tinh.

The discovery was the result of joint efforts between Vu Quang National Park, the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences, and Japan’s Kyushu University.

Lasianthus hatinhensis. (Photo: Phytotaxa).

Lasianthus vuquangensis is found at a height of 1,000-1,240 metres above sea level while Lasianthus hatinhensis lives at a height of 1,600-1,800 metres above sea level.

The two Lasianthus species were discovered in June 2016, but it was only until early 2023 that they were fully described and announced by the Institute of Tropical Biology under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the Tropical Biosphere Research Centre under the University of the Ryukyus in the work “A revision of the genus Lasianthus Jack (Rubiaceae) from Vietnam”, featuring 40 new Lasianthus species found in Vietnam.

Vu Quang National Park is one of the places with the richest biodiversity in Vietnam. It was named an ASEAN Heritage Park in July 2022.

(Source: NDO)