Imagine a flower that resembles the claw of an arcade toy machine. Now add hairs and a musty odor. It’s Ceropegia Foetidiflora, a plant recently identified in the forested hills of northeastern Thailand.
The plant is just one of the 110 species that were recorded by scientists in 2018 and 2019 throughout Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. A new WWF report details a vibrant diversity of plants and vertebrate animals—the report excludes insects, fungi, and mollusks—which have never been scientifically identified.
Check out five species from the report:
