Yang Zongzong (left), a local taxonomist, holds the specimen of Zhaosu Larkspur to take photos with Chi Jiancai (center) and Ma Ming. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)
Two rare larkspurs were recently discovered in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and will soon be published in the Bulletin of Botanical Research, a professional journal of botany.
Wang Wencai, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the two larkspurs discovered in Xinjiang have never been recorded in the world.
One of the larkspurs has been named Zhaosu Larkspur after the famous Chinese plant taxonomist.
Xinjiang is a vast region, but the region does not have too many plant species, Wang said.
Xinjiang is estimated to have 3,875 different kinds of wild plants and the discovery of the two new larkspurs will certainly help enrich the wild plant data bank in Xinjiang and add new wild plants in China's wild plant data bank, Wang said.
Yang Zongzong, a local taxonomist, said he was excited to learn the rare larkspurs have been discovered and Xinjiang and one of them have been named.
After relevant departments introduced effective and concrete measures to protect environment and ecology in recent years, the grassland is now full of life and wild flowers are everywhere in Xinjiang, Yang said.
Yang said he would try to attract more experts, talents and special personnel to join his group to protect and classify the wild plants in Xinjiang in the following years.
