New species of begonia found in Yunnan

Scientists in southwest China's Yunnan Province said on Monday they have discovered a new species of begonia in the city of Pu'er.

The species was named "Begonia austroyunnanensis" by researchers with the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to Wang Wenguang, assistant engineer with the garden, the researchers found an unknown species of begonia in Pu'er in 2017 while conducting a field survey of local vegetation. They brought the plant back to the garden to cultivate and later on confirmed it to be a new species after further research.

Wang said China has 204 species of begonia, and about 110 can be found in Yunnan. Currently fewer than 100 individual plants of Begonia austroyunnanensis have been found in the wild, which are grown near croplands.

Editor: John Li