Hidden in plain sight – that’s how researchers describe their discovery of a new genus of large forest tree commonly found, yet previously scientifically unknown, in the tropical Andes.
Hidden in plain sight – that’s how researchers describe their discovery of a new genus of large forest tree commonly found, yet previously scientifically unknown, in the tropical Andes.
Researchers from the Smithsonian and Wake Forest University detailed their findings in a study just released in the journal PhytoKeys.
Named Incadendron esseri (literally “Esser’s tree of the Inca”), the tree is a new genus and species commonly found along an ancient Inca path in Peru, the Trocha Unión. Its association with the land of the Inca empire inspired its scientific name.
So how could a canopy tree stretching up to 100 feet tall and spanning nearly two feet in diameter go undetected until now?
Read more at Wake Forest University
Image: New canopy tree genus Incadendron esseri shown in this altitudinal transect of Manu National Park in Peru. (Credit: Wake Forest University)
