Texas Rangers Find New Plant Species in Big Bend

Park rangers and volunteers at Big Bend National Park made an amazing discovery in March 2024. They found a tiny fuzzy plant that turned out to be completely new to science. The plant was so small and well-hidden among desert rocks that it had never been spotted before.

The discovery happened when a park volunteer and ranger noticed some very small, fuzzy plants during a botany program. They took photos and checked databases to see what kind of plant it might be. After posting pictures online and talking with experts, researchers realized this was something brand new.

Scientists from California Academy of Sciences, Sul Ross University, and other institutions studied the plant carefully. They found it was so different that it became not just a new species, but an entirely new group within the daisy family. The plant has thick white fuzzy leaves that look like wool and ribbon-like flowers.

Researchers named the plant Ovicula biradiata, which means "tiny sheep" because of its woolly leaves. They also call it the "wooly devil" because it grows near a place called Devil's Den. The plant only grows in Big Bend's Chihuahuan Desert, which is the largest warm desert in North America covering over 800,000 acres.

Scientists are working to learn more about this special plant. They want to find out where else it might grow and how climate change affects it. The discovery shows that even our well-known parks still hold surprises waiting to be found.

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