Newly discovered species found in Ecuador lives up to its name, A. miraculum

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1. *Researchers have* [*discovered a plant species*](https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/13/science/ecuador-plant-amalophyllon-miraculum-centinela-scn/index.html) *called Amalophyllon miraculum in western Ecuador. Its survival inspires hope that devastated forests can be preserved.*

   >On the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador, John L. Clark, a research botanist at Florida’s Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, happened upon what he calls a miracle.

   >In an area of formerly lush cloud forest known as Centinela devastated by clearing, Clark spotted a tiny, 2-inch-high (5-centimeter) plant with delicate white petals and spiky, iridescent leaves in 2022.

   >That he could see it at all, nestled there on a moss-covered rock in a remnant patch of untouched land, was impressive. That it was a never-before-documented species was even better. But the best part of all was the hope it gave Clark.

   >“That area was sort of written off as just agricultural wasteland,” he said. The diminutive flower told another story.

   >“A lot of the things that we thought were gone, they’re still there. And then on top of what we thought was gone, we found this,” said Clark, lead author of a paper describing the finding, published Tuesday in the journal [PhytoKeys](https://phytokeys.pensoft.net/article/118069/).

   >Back in the lab, Clark and his team confirmed that the little plant was a species new to science, and he and his team named it Amalophyllon miraculum.