Hard to miss a 6ft. tall plant...
--
Reka

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html


By Mark Prigg, Evening Standard, Science Correspondent
13 February 2004
They have spent years scouring exotic locations like Madagascar and Borneo
for new species of orchids.

However, Kew Gardens botanists admit their latest discovery was in one of
their own greenhouses.

The 6ft-high plant had been growing on a public information board in an
exhibit for 13 years without the experts realising it was a new species.

They have named it aeranthis virginalis, because its overlapping petals look
like a woman's crossed legs.

"The biggest problem is that orchids can only be identified when they are
flowering - otherwise one green leaf looks pretty much like another," said
Dr David Roberts, Kew's orchid expert and the man who discovered their
oversight.

"When we received the plant as seeds it was incorrectly identified, so it
took us a while to get round to checking whether it was actually what we
were told it was."

The new orchid, with large translucent green flowers, is now housed in Kew's
display. "We think we may have found more of them in Madagascar, so we know
where they come from now," said Dr Roberts.



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.583 / Virus Database: 369 - Release Date: 10.02.04