BRASILIA: Brazilian botanist Paulo Gonella discovered a new species of sundew plant thanks to a photo posted on Facebook, the University of Sao Paulo reported.
The newly found species, named Drosera magnifica, is commonly known as “orvalinha” and belongs to the Droseraceae family, according to the USP Biosciences Institute, where Gonella is pursuing his doctorate.
Drosera magnifica has slender candelabrum-shaped leaves up to 24 cm (9.5 in) long, which secrete a sticky substance that traps insects.
The plant was found in 2013 when Reginaldo Vasconcelos took a picture of it during a walk in the mountains near Governador Valadares, the city in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais where he lives.
Vasconcelos posted the image on Facebook, where it was spotted by Gonella, who also works with the Nymphenburg Botanic Garden in Munich, Germany.
Gonella contacted Vasconcelos to find out where the plant was located and in 2013 he launched a study, along with Fernando Rivadavia, a Brazilian researcher living in the United States, and Andreas Fleischmann, a researcher and conservator of the Botanic Collection in Munich.
