Neue Pflanzenart aus Amazonien nach Dresdener Botaniker benannt

The plant family called pipevines (Aristolochiaceae) has been intensively studied in the past 20 years by the chair for botany. The scientists from Dresden belong to the few specialists for these plants worldwide and published relevant papers on the evolution and biology of this group. Besides this, the Botanical Garden cultivates one of the largest living collections of Aristolochia species from all over the world. Just a few weeks ago a rare species from Mexico, Aristolochia impudica, flowered for the first time, the only known plant in cultivation.

© Sébastien Sant

Now scientist from Brasil, Colombia, and the Musée d´Histoire Naturelle in Paris named a new species from French-Guyana after one the scientists from the Institute for Botany: Prof. Stefan Wanke. It is a climbing species from the tropical rainforests of the Amazon basin with an unusual flower morphology that is a general characteristic of Aristolochia species. The naming of this species honors the merits of Prof. Wanke investigating the genus Aristolochia. Already 2017 a new species form Vietnam was named after Prof. Neinhuis for the same reasons.