Exciting stuff! Two new species of Magnolia have been found, in the cloud forests of Mexico. Curiously, they had actually been found some years ago in 2010, though at the time the photographer (Roberto Pedraza Ruiz) had identified them as the already-in-existence Magnolia dealbata. After sharing a few with the image-hosting site for flora and fauna Arkive, they sat improperly identified for many years – until recently. A Mexican botanist, by the name of Dr José Antonio Vázquez, who was looking over the images, considered them rather different to what they were meant to look like for that particular Magnolia species, and contacted the photographer. After a request for further photos from the botanist, Roberto returned to the cloud forest and collected many more photos, after which it was found that two new species of Magnolia had been identified – Magnolia rzedowskiana, and Magnolia pedrazae. It seems that the internet can be useful for identifying new tree species, therefore!
You can read more here on Arkive’s blog.
Arboriculture 