A tiny plant that feeds on fungus and has no pigment has been named as the first new genus of plant from Japan since 1930. The plant, which grows to 3 centimetres tall and 2 centimetres wide, emerges to the surface for as little as a week each year. It belongs to a group of plants known as fairy lanterns and has been given the scientific name Relictithismia kimotsukiensis. Relictithismia kimotsukiensis and its habitat at the type locality. a & b A secondary evergreen broad-leaved forest where R. kimotsukiensis was found. c & e Flower, top view. d & f Flower, lateral view. Scale bars: 10 mm. Photos (a & b) were taken by Yasunori Nakamura on 3 June 2022, and photos (c–f) were taken by Shuichiro Tagane on 9 June 2023. Photos (e & f) were captured after collection https://www.newscientist.com/articl...t-lives-mostly-underground-is-new-to-science/ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10265-024-01532-5
