Royal Botanic Gardens

 

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Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and their international partners, reveal today their pick of the top 10 plants and fungi named new to science in 2025. From "camouflaged" plants to spider-infecting parasites, the annual list underscores how much of the natural world has yet to be described and highlights RBG Kew's role as a conservation charity tackling the extinction crisis globally.


In the past 12 months, Kew's taxonomists, together with their collaborators, have named 125 plants and 65 fungi internationally. Among these new species are a terrifying "zombie" fungus that parasitizes trapdoor spiders in Brazil's Atlantic rainforest, a Critically Endangered "bloodstained" orchid from Ecuador, and a strange new species of snowdrop described from North Macedonia and Kosovo.

Other highlights include a new rock-like lithops, as well as a beautiful red Aphelandra named after a character in the classic Studio Ghibli animated film Howl's Moving Castle. Six new orchids have been described from Indonesian New Guinea and Maluku, and in Inner Mongolia a new species of fungus was described from the roots of grass.

Sadly, many of the species described this year are already threatened with extinction, and at least one species, Cryptacanthus ebo from the Ebo forest, Cameroon, may have already gone extinct in its native habitat. As revealed in Kew's State of the World's Plants and Fungi 2023 report, as many as 3 in 4 undescribed plants are already threatened with extinction.

Where possible, scientists will work with partners on the ground to protect plant species in situ (in their habitat) by incorporating them into a network of Important Plant Areas (IPAs), or conserving their seeds ex situ at national seed banks and Kew's Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025. Where it can benefit the study or conservation of a species, seeds may be germinated and grown by expert horticulturists at Kew Gardens or Wakehurst to provide material for scientific research and conservation.

Dr. Martin Cheek, Senior Research Leader in RBG Kew's Africa team, says, "Describing new plant and fungal species is essential at a time when the impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change accelerate before our eyes: it is difficult to protect what we do not know, understand and have a scientific name for. Each identification of a new species to science helps us better understand ecosystems. Without this foundational knowledge, species conservation efforts fail.

"As taxonomists, it used to be that we had no great concerns about the survival of the species that we published as new to science. But now, increasingly, we are finding that such species are threatened with extinction or even appear already extinct at the point that we publish them.

"Wherever we look, human activities are eroding nature to the point of extinction, and we simply cannot keep up with the pace of destruction. If we fail to invest in taxonomy, conservation and public awareness of the issues now, we risk dismantling the very systems that sustain our life on Earth."

On average, about 2,500 new plants and even greater numbers of new fungi are described globally by scientists every single year. Estimates in recent years suggest there could be as many as 100,000 plant species waiting to be described and as many as 2–3 million species of fungi globally.

Dr. Irina Druzhinina, Senior Research Leader in Fungal Diversity and Systematics at RBG Kew, says, "Fungal taxonomy remains one of science's most exhilarating frontiers of discovery, even though it may also be the most daunting one we face. From giant bracket fungi growing on tree trunks to microscopic filaments in the soil, Kews scientists estimate there could be more than 2 million species of fungi globally, of which slightly more than 200,000 have been named so far.

"So, the challenge is immense but so is the wonder and privilege of uncovering new branches on the tree of life and the more people we can inspire to get involved in this work, the better."

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