Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

WBAA's HD Radio channels will be off-air while a critical piece of equipment undergoes repairs. This will not impact WBAA News or WBAA Classical FM, AM 920 or the live stream of all channels. We are still awaiting repairs to this equipment. Thank you for your patience during this process.

Scientists find wildflower Gasteranthus extinctus is still alive despite its name

NPR

Published April 26, 2022 at 1:52 PM EDT

The bright orange flowers of the Ecuadorian cloud forest herb Gasteranthus extinctus, long believed to have gone extinct, light up the forest understory as if begging to be seen. (Riley Fortier)

Nearly four decades after its last sighting, a bright orange South American wildflower showed its colors once again.

As its name implies, the Gasteranthus extinctus was thought to have been wiped out due to extensive deforestation in Ecuador.

But scientists on a research trip to the country last year found the plant, very much alive.

Here & Now speaks with one of the lead researchers, Dawson White, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Field Museum in Chicago.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.