Critically endangered plant rediscovered in SW China(1/5)

Photo taken on Aug. 17, 2022 shows researcher Hu Jun checking specimens at Chengdu Institute of Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/Xinhua)

According to the Chengdu Institute of Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), researchers have rediscovered a critically endangered plant, Euonymus aquifolium, during China's second scientific research survey on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Euonymus aquifolium is a rare and vegetatively distinctive species, and the rediscovery by Chinese researchers uncovered the only presently confirmed living individuals more than 110 years after a single gathering collected by British scientist E.H. Wilson in 1908, according to a research article published in the journal PhytoKeys.

"I was lucky. Some experts have been looking for it for more than a decade, and some even fell down mountains during the expedition, but to no avail." said Hu Jun, assistant researcher of the institute.

During the scientific expedition along the southeastern slope of Mt. Gongga, 15 individuals of Euonymus aquifolium were unexpectedly encountered by Hu Jun and his team members in August 2021. (Photo by Hu Jun/Xinhua)

Photo taken by researcher Hu Jun on Aug. 10, 2021 shows the Euonymus aquifolium in the wild. (Photo/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Aug. 17, 2022 shows researcher Hu Jun checking a picture of Euonymus aquifolium at Chengdu Institute of Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/Xinhua)

Photo taken by researcher Hu Jun on Aug. 10, 2021 shows the leaves of Euonymus aquifolium in the wild. (Photo/Xinhua)

Photo taken by researcher Hu Jun on Aug. 10, 2021 shows the flower, fruit and leaves of Euonymus aquifolium in the wild. (Photo/Xinhua)