UÉ discovers new plant species
University of Évora (UÉ) discovers new plant species. Helosciadium milfontinum, as it was called, is an endemic, rare and heavily threatened plant that grows in temporary ponds and is restricted worldwide to small areas of the Costa Vicentina.
Carla Pinto Cruz, researcher at the MED (Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development) at UÉ, stresses the importance of discovering this plant, whose set of flowers “resembles a small umbrella, similar to the celery flowers that bloom between July and August and bears fruit at the beginning of September ”. It has creeping stems, "which take root in the knots and the leaves are lobed and have toothed margins" adds the researcher.
Thanks to this joint study between UÉ and botanists at the University of Oviedo, “it is possible to clearly show that this new species differs from the previously identified”, referring to Apium repens, whose distribution area is more comprehensive in European territory. Through the study of the morphological and genetic characteristics carried out by the team of researchers, “it was possible to show that it was a different species from the previously classified” where the occurrence of this new species “is restricted worldwide to small areas of the Costa Vicentina”.
Although these temporary ponds in the Alentejo region are “very threatened from the point of view of their conservation” they have “a unique habitat that hosts a great diversity of organisms and where biological diversity is being lost as each species becomes extinct”, warns the researcher.
The realization of conservation actions and their proper planning "is essential" recalls, referring that, "the consequences of our actions on the planet and the fast pace at which changes are produced are observed daily", reason to say "that only having a good knowledge of the species, as we have come to demonstrate in this study, we can adequately anticipate and prioritize conservation efforts”.
