It is not common for anyone to find a new orchid species. While new plants are found pretty regularly, we’ve managed to find pretty much any orchid that is still around today. However, one orchid type was still out there in the world yet to be recorded by anyone as of 2021. That was until an orchid with white blossoms and a tall stem was found in the Guiana Highlands, within Venezuela. This species is believed to reside within an area of less than 20,000 square kilometers (or 7,700 square miles). That allows it to meet the criteria for being “vulnerable to extinction” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
[Image via Mateusz Wrazidlo]Several nations have respected IUCN’s recommendations for animals or plants within their red listings. As a result, they will usually make laws around not hunting or causing damage to a region where these species reside. It was the members of the local Pemón Arekuna Indigenous community that named this new species to the world of science. Called “Paruima,” the name comes from their native language. Mateusz Wrazidlo was the researcher who described the new orchid. They had the local indigenous community name the orchid because they were advocating for “de-colonizing science nomenclature and giving more representation to Indigenous [and] local languages.”