- Kew scientists named 190 new plants and fungi described together with partners in 2025
- List includes a ‘zombie’ fungus from Brazil, a ‘bloodstained’ orchid from Ecuador, a strange snowdrop from the Balkans, and a fiery plant named after a Studio Ghibli film character
- Several of the new species are already under threat and at risk of extinction because of human activities
- New species highlight ongoing global loss of biodiversity and urgent need for conservation
Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and their international partners, reveal today their pick of the top 10 plants and fungi named new to science in 2025.
From 'camouflaged’ plants to spider-infecting parasites, the annual list underscores how much of the natural world remains to be described, and highlights RBG Kew’s role as a conservation charity tackling the extinction crisis globally.
In the past 12 months, Kew’s taxonomists together with their collaborators have named 125 plants and 65 fungi internationally. Amongst these new species are a terrifying ‘zombie’ fungus that parasitises trapdoor spiders in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest, a Critically Endangered ‘bloodstained’ orchid from Ecuador, and a strange new species of snowdrop described from North Macedonia and Kosovo.
Other highlights include a new subspecies of rock-like lithops, as well as a beautiful red Aphelandra named after a character in the classic Studio Ghibli animated film Howl’s Moving Castle. Six new orchids have been described from Indonesian New Guinea and Maluku, and in Inner Mongolia a new species of fungus was described from the roots of grass.
Sadly, many of the species described this year are already threatened with extinction, and at least one species, Cryptacanthus ebo from the Ebo forest, Cameroon, may have already gone extinct in its native habitat. As revealed in Kew’s State of the World's Plants and Fungi 2023 report, as many as 3 in 4 undescribed plants are already threatened with extinction.
Where possible, scientists will work with partners on the ground to protect plant species in situ (in their habitat) by incorporating them into a network of Important Plant Areas (IPAs), or conserving their seeds ex situ at national seed banks and Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025. Where it can benefit the study or conservation of a species, seeds may be germinated and grown by expert horticulturists at Kew Gardens or Wakehurst to provide material for scientific research and conservation.
Dr Martin Cheek, Senior Research Leader in RBG Kew’s Africa team, says: 'Describing new plant and fungal species is essential at a time when the impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change accelerate before our eyes: it is difficult to protect what we do not know, understand and have a scientific name for. Each identification of a new species to science helps us better understand ecosystems. Without this foundational knowledge, species conservation efforts fail.
'As taxonomists, it used to be that we had no great concerns about the survival of the species that we published as new to science. But now, increasingly we are finding that such species are threatened with extinction or even appear already extinct at the point that we publish them.
‘Wherever we look, human activities are eroding nature to the point of extinction, and we simply cannot keep up with the pace of destruction. If we fail to invest in taxonomy, conservation and public awareness of the issues now, we risk dismantling the very systems that sustain our life on Earth.’
On average, about 2,500 new plants and even greater numbers of new fungi are described globally by scientists every single year. Estimates in recent years suggest there could be as many as 100,000 plant species waiting to be described and as many as 2–3 million species of fungi globally.
Dr Irina Druzhinina, Senior Research Leader in Fungal Diversity and Systematics at RBG Kew, says: ‘Fungal taxonomy remains one of science's most exhilarating frontiers of discovery even though it may also be the most daunting one we face. From giant bracket fungi growing on tree trunks to microscopic filaments in the soil, Kew's scientists estimate there could be more than 2 million species of fungi globally, of which slightly more than 200,000 have been named so far. So, the challenge is immense but so is the wonder and privilege of uncovering new branches on the tree of life and the more people we can inspire to get involved in this work, the better.’
Here are the top 10 weird and wonderful species described in 2025:
1. Gruesome spider-killing fungus from Brazil
This newest member of the fungal kingdom belongs to a group of entomopathogenic fungi that parasitise other organisms and are colloquially known as zombie fungi. Purpureocillium atlanticum is a spider-eating fungus from the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil collected in November 2022.
The fungus infects trapdoor spiders buried in the forest floor inside their burrows, covering the spider almost completely with soft, cotton-white mycelium. From the corpse, an up-to-2-cm-long fruiting body emerges, passes through the trapdoor hole and is held above the ground to release its spores and continue the cycle.
To unravel how this grisly strategy evolved, the team turned to cutting-edge genome technology. Using portable Oxford Nanopore sequencing, the fungus’s genetic blueprint was decoded in near real-time in the field with minimal laboratory infrastructure. This approach delivers data faster and lets scientists capture complete genomes and hidden microbial partners on site, accelerating species discovery and ecological insight.
The study was led by Dr Joao Araujo, an Honorary Research Associate (HRA) at Kew and Curator of Fungi and Assistant Professor at the University of Copenhagen, and Kew’s Executive Director of Science Prof. Alex Antonelli. The DNA sequencing and analysis was carried out by Dr Oscar Alejandro Pérez-Escobar, Research Leader at Kew and Dr Natalia Przelomska, Kew HRA and lecturer at the University of Portsmouth.
2. The bloodstained orchid growing on tree daisies in Ecuador
Telipogon cruentilabrum is a new species of orchid from the high Andean forests of Cotopaxi, Ecuador. Named for the bloodstained lip of the flower, the species grows epiphytically; that is non-parasitically, on tree daisies, about 1.5 to 3 m above the ground. Its showy yellow, red-veined flowers can measure 3.8 cm across and, as with other Telipogon species, its flowers mimic female flies to attract sexually aroused males for pollination.
Sadly, more than half of this species’ habitat has already been cleared, and tree clearance continues due to mining and agriculture. As such, it has already been informally assessed as Endangered. There are about 250 known species of Telipogon, all in South and Central America and the Caribbean. They are notoriously difficult to cultivate, and species can only be identified when in flower.
Telipogon cruentilabrum is one of four new rare and spectacular Telipogon species described in 2025 by Dr Carlos Martel, Research Fellow at Kew and his Peruvian and Ecuadorian colleagues, including Gabriel Iturralde from the Universidad de Las Américas.
3. The fire demon flower of Peru
Thanks to its flame-like bright orange-red and yellow flowers, this 3-m-tall forest acanth shrub was named after Calcifer, the fire demon in the cult 2004 Hayao Miyazaki film Howl’s Moving Castle. As such, scientists think Aphelandra calciferi has great potential as a conservatory ornamental plant.
It is one of two new species from Peru published in a paper by the Peruvian-UK author team of Villanueva-Espinoza and Wood. John Wood, an Honorary Research Fellow on Kew’s Americas team is this year’s most prolific publisher of new species at Kew, with a total of 25 descriptions in 2025.
4. Not to be taken for granite: A new subspecies of ‘living stone’ from savannah woodland in Namibia
Lithops gracilidelineata subsp. mopane is a new subspecies of lithops or ‘living stones’, a group of plants famous for their stone-like camouflage. Although at first glance, they appear to be no more than a pebble, lithops are succulents with a single pair of leaves that admit light through an upper ‘window’ into the internal photosynthetic surfaces. The plants bear a single, daisy-like flower.
The 38 known species are confined to the arid regions of Namibia and South Africa, though some are found in Botswana. However, the new ‘mopane lithops’ differs from all others in being limited to a higher rainfall area with ‘mopane’ woodland. It also differs from similar subspecies in having smooth, whitish grey leaf surface (not sculptured and cream or brownish pink).
Lithops are popular in cultivation but illegal over-collection from the wild to supply this market is driving species to extinction. Several species have been assessed as Endangered or Vulnerable to Extinction.
The study was led by Dr Sebastian Hatt, Research Fellow at Kew, with colleagues Prof. Gillian Maggs-Kölling and Natanael Ndilenga from Gobabeb Namib Research Institute, Dr Sonja Loots from the Namibian National Botanical Research Institute, and Prof. Olwen Grace from Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
5. A beautiful new snowdrop from Mt Korab, the Balkans
Although already found in cultivation here in the UK, this unusual species of snowdrop did not appear to match any known species as first observed by snowdrop enthusiast and co-author Ian McEnery. Scientists investigating this mystery, led by Kew's Dr Aaron Davis, have since traced its origin to the subalpine grasslands of Mt Korab in northern Macedonia and Kosovo
Now officially named Galanthus subalpinus, its flowers closely resemble the common snowdrop G. nivalis, while its leaves appear to fit the species G. graecus. Its status as a new species was confirmed with an analysis of its DNA sequence and genome size data.
Unfortunately, the tiny snowdrop has already been assessed as Critically Endangered due to its small population size and the threats from collecting for the horticultural trade. Overgrazing and fires are additional factors putting this species at risk.
6. New banana/guava-tasting tree fruit from the forest floor of New Guinea
Picking fruit from this 18-m-tall tree from Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, is relatively easy. They are produced on whip-like stems that run down from the trunk and along the ground for up to 7 m, producing white flowers about 6 cm in diameter. Furthermore, they taste of banana mixed with guava and even have an aftertaste of eucalyptus, according to the collectors Arison Arihafa and Fanie Venter, for whom the species is named Eugenia venteri.
The species is thought to have evolved to have its flowers pollinated and seeds dispersed by the giant ground rats that are found in New Guinea.
Several species of Eugenia are already in cultivation across the tropics for their fruit. E. venteri fruit are nearly spherical and measure about 40–50 mm in diameter, with distinct ridges running from the top to the bottom.
The study was led by Dr Yee Wen Low, an Honorary Research Associate (HRA) at Kew and Senior Researcher at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, and Kew’s Senior Research Leader of Accelerated Taxonomy Dr Eve Lucas in collaboration with Arison Arihafa an independent botanist based in Papua New Guinea. The DNA extraction and sequencing was carried out by László Csiba of Analytical Methods team at Kew’s Jodrell laboratory.
7. Endangered 5-tonne tree from the Cameroon rainforest
This is by far the biggest and heaviest new species scientists at Kew have described with their partners this year. Growing up to 34 m tall in the Cameroon rainforest and with a trunk diameter of 66 cm, a rough calculation puts the mass of just one of these trees at 5 tonnes (5,000 kg).
Plagiosiphon intermedium is a detarioid legume (a member of the bean family) that is the first species to be added to the Plagiosiphon genus, previously with just five species, in nearly 80 years. Plagiosiphon species are confined to the forests of Cameroon, Gabon and Congo, apart from one species extending to West Africa.
Detarioid legume trees grow in groups and depend on ectomycorrhizal fungi (fungi that form symbiotic relationships with tree roots). The new species is known from only two locations, both in Ngovayang, one of Cameroon’s top hotspots for unique plant species, but currently unprotected.
The description was led by Kew’s Xander van der Burgt with colleagues Barthélemy Tchiengué and Eric Ngansop Tchatchouang at Cameroon's Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD) National Herbarium.
8. Inner fungus from Inner Mongolia
A high proportion of the fungi scientists are yet to describe are expected to be fungi that are not easily detected by the human eye; that is those lacking large fruiting bodies such as toadstools. Among these are fungal endophytes that spend their lives inside living plants, which show no signs of disease and which may even benefit from the partnership.
One such example is a new fungus named as Magnaporthiopsis stipae, which was isolated from the roots of a grass, Stipa sareptana, growing in Inner Mongolia, China.
This species is just one of 24 new species, 11 new genera and 1 new family published as new to science in a study of an order of fungi which are mainly endophytes and the agents of plant diseases. The study was led by scientists from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou and supported by colleagues from Utrecht, Vienna, and Dr Irina Druzhinina, Senior Research Leader in Fungal Diversity and Systematics at Kew.
9. Elegant new Christmas palm, Critically Endangered in the Philippines
Known locally as Amuring (Waray-Bisaya language), this beautiful red-fruited palm, 5 to 15 m tall, was discovered by Jiro Adorador and Zhereeleen M. Adorador from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 2013 and is already highly sought after by palm enthusiasts for cultivation in gardens.
Now scientifically recognised as Adonidia zibabaoa, it grows on karst limestone ridges in a small area of typhoon-prone Samar Island, one of the Visayas of the Philippines. The species name derives from an old name for Samar.
Its designation as new-to-science was challenging because it was not immediately obvious what genus it belonged to, but DNA analyses undertaken at Kew confirmed its placement in the genus Adonidia. Only two other species are known in the genus, from Borneo, Palawan and Danjugan Island, including the Christmas palm (Adonidia merrillii, also known as Manila palm), one of the most widely cultivated tropical ornamentals in the world.
10. The caterpillar orchid among six new orchids from Indonesian New Guinea and Maluku
The caterpillar orchid, Dendrobium eruciforme, is so named because the tiny, creeping plants resemble a colony of caterpillars sitting on a tree trunk. This is the smallest of six new species published by Indonesian scientists along with Kew’s Andre Schuiteman.
Five of the discoveries arise from Kew’s work with local partners to identify the most important areas to conserve in Indonesian New Guinea (Tropical Important Plant Areas New Guinea project), with 13 such Tropical Important Plant Areas or TIPAs published so far, while also building local capacity.
Three of the species are from the Crown Jewel project Area which conserves some of the world's most species-rich and intact tropical rainforest, with Birds of Paradise made famous in the UK by David Attenborough.
The five New Guinea species were published with Kew’s Indonesian partners from either/all of BBKSDA (natural resources conservation centre), Universitas Papua and supported by BRIDA (regional research and innovation agency). The Crown Jewel of Tanah Papua project (Mahkota Permata Tanah Papua) has Kew and many other NGOs as partners including FFI, WWF and the Rainforest Trust Balitbangda Papua Barat. The fieldwork would not have been possible without the support of private philanthropists.
The new species are:
- Dendrobium eruciforme Schuit., Saputra & Wanma
- Dendrobium siculiforme Saputra, Schuit. & Metusala
- Bulbophyllum sandfordiorum Saputra, Schuit.
- Bulbophyllum ewamiyiuu Saputra, Schuit. & Metusala
- Bulbophyllum abuniorum Saputra & Schuit
- Bulbophyllum halmaherae Mustaqim, Yudistira, Jacop & Schuit. from Halmahera Island, Maluku. This is the only one not from New Guinea
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Kew’s scientists count new taxa to science which may be species, subspecies, genera or families. These have been published mainly in peer-reviewed scientific journals in papers authored or co-authored by Kew staff and associates (giving RBG Kew as their institutional affiliation) with their collaborators from around the world.
Totals for 2025: 190 new taxa comprising species (175), subspecies (1), genera (13), and families (1) new to science counted for 2025.
REFERENCES:
01. Araújo, J.P.M., Przelomska, N.A.S., Smith, R.J., Drechsler-Santos, E.R., Alves-Silva, G., Martins-Cunha, K., Hosoya, T., Luangsa-ard, J.J., Perrigo, A., Repullés, M., Matos-Maraví, P., Woods, R., Pérez-Escobar, O.A., Antonelli, A. (2025). A new species of Purpureocillium (Ophiocordycipitaceae) fungus parasitizing trapdoor spiders in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and its associated microbiome revealed through in situ “taxogenomics”. IMA Fungus 16: e168534. https://doi.org/10.3897/imafungus.16.168534
02. Iturralde, G.A., Jiménez, M.M., Monteros, M.F., Martel, C., & Baquero, L.E. (2025). Telipogon cruentilabrum (Orchidaceae: Oncidiinae): a new species from mid-western Ecuador, long misidentified as T. dendriticus. Phytotaxa 694 (3): 271–280. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.694.3.6
03. Villanueva-Espinoza, R., Wood, J.R.I. (2025). Two new species of Aphelandra (Acanthaceae) from Peru. Kew Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-025-10334-4
04. Hatt, S.A., Grace, O.M., Ndilenga, N.S., et al. (2025). Lithops gracilidelineata subsp. mopane (Aizoaceae): a new subspecies from Mopane-Pachypodium shrubland in northwestern Namibia. Kew Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-025-10274-z
05. Davis, A.P., McEnery, I., Csiba, L., et al. (2025). Galanthus subalpinus (Amaryllidaceae): a new species of snowdrop from the Western Balkans. Kew Bulletin 80: 169–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-024-10239-8
06. Low, Y.W., Csiba, L., Arihafa, A., et al. (2025). Eugenia venteri (sect. Jossinia, Myrtaceae): a new flagelliflorous tree from the rainforest of Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Kew Bulletin 80: 733–743 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-025-10264-1
07. van der Burgt X.M., Tchatchouang E.N., Tchiengué B. (2025). Plagiosiphon intermedium (Leguminosae, Detarioideae), a new tree species from the Ngovayang forest in Cameroon. Webbia. Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography 80(2) Suppl: 175–181. https://doi.org/10.36253/jopt-18480
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09. Adorador, J., Perez-Calle, V., Meneses-Adorador, Z.D., Bellot, S., Baker, W.J., Fernando, E.S. (2025). Adonidia zibabaoa, a remarkable new palm species from Samar Island, Philippines. Palms 69(1).
10. Mustaqim, W.A., Yudistira, Y.R., Jacop, S., Schuiteman, A. (2025). Bulbophyllum halmaherae (Orchidaceae), an unusual species of section Polymeres from Halmahera, Maluku, Indonesia. Kew Bulletin 80: 197–201 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-024-10242-z).
10. Saputra, R., Metusala, D., Schuiteman, A., Eliazar, Y., Field, A., Nargar, K., and Crayn, D. M. 2025. Two new orchid species from the Raja Ampat Archipelago, Southwest Papua Province, Indonesia. Telopea 29: 197–205 (doi: 10.7751/telopea21019).
10. Saputra, R., Schuiteman, A., Wanma, J. F., Jennings, L., Cahyo, Y. I. D., Haryanto, T., Putri, B. F., and Heatubun, C. D. 2025. Bulbophyllum sandfordiorum (Orchidaceae), a new species of Bulbophyllum section Papulipetalum from West Papua Province, Indonesia. Kew Bulletin 80: 397–402 (doi: 10.1007/s12225-025-10259-y).
10. Saputra, R., Schuiteman, A., Ulimpa, H., Darwis, F. F. D., Junial, A., Nuburi, W., and Santoso, J. 2025. A new species of Bulbophyllum from section Lepidorhiza (Orchidaceae) from the Bird’s Head Peninsula, Indonesian New Guinea. Telopea 29: 9–13 (doi: 10.7751/telopea20323).
10. Schuiteman, A., Saputra, R., Wanma, J. F., Jennings, L., and Heatubun, C. D. 2025. Dendrobium eruciforme (Orchidaceae), a new species of section Microphytanthe from West Papua Province, Indonesia. Kew Bulletin: 80: 745–750 (doi: 10.1007/s12225-025-10281-0).
About Kew Science
Kew Science is the driving force behind RBG Kew’s mission to understand and protect plants and fungi, for the well-being of people and the future of all life on Earth. Over 600 Kew science staff work with partners in more than 100 countries worldwide to halt biodiversity loss, uncover secrets of the natural world, and to conserve and restore the extraordinary diversity of plants and fungi. Kew’s Science Strategy 2021–2025 lays out five scientific priorities to aid these goals: research into the protection of biodiversity through Ecosystem Stewardship, understanding the variety and evolution of traits in plants and fungi through Trait Diversity and Function; digitising and sharing tools to analyse Kew’s scientific collections through Digital Revolution; using new technologies to speed up the naming and characterisation of plants and fungi through Accelerated Taxonomy; and cultivating new scientific and commercial partnerships in the UK and globally through Enhanced Partnerships. One of Kew’s greatest international collaborations is the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, which has to date stored more than 2.4 billion seeds of over 40,000 wild species of plants across the globe. In 2023, Kew scientists estimated in the State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report that 3 in 4 undescribed plants globally are already likely threatened with extinction.