Botanists have discovered what could be the world’s newest type of vegetation in the form of a lone, spear-shaped and nocturnal plant growing in Northern Tanzania, Citizen Tanzania reports.
The new plant is currently being studied at the National Herbarium which operates inside the Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA) premises in Arusha.
The TPHPA head of national herbarium, Dr Neduvoto Mollel, said the new plant seems to come alive at night when the leaves bloom under moonlight but as soon as the sun comes out, the plant goes with its leaves looking slightly weathered.
“It is a very strange plant because its leaves expand and flourish during the night and contract at sunrise,” Dr Mollel explained.
The plant was discovered by American Botanist Barry Yinger and his Tanzanian associate Robert Sikawa. The National Herbarium in which the new plant is being kept and observed, located at Ngaramtoni in the outskirts of Arusha city, holds a collection of preserved plant specimens and…
