It Looks Like A Small Nondescript Palm,

but it is in fact fully grown, 

photograph: William J Baker/Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, and has an amazing secret, the ability to flower and fruit underground, a processes known as geoflory and geocarpy, both are rarely encountered in nature, especially both of them in the same species, but that happens in Pinanga subterranea, a new species discovered on the tropical island of Borneo, the plant and its sweet fruits are well-known to the island’s indigenous population, but it has somehow been overlooked by scientists until now. Dr Paul Chai, a Malaysian botanist and namesake of the palm species Pinanga chaiana was the first to spot the underground-flowering palm, and in 2018, Kew scientists Benedikt Kuhnhäuser, Peter Petoe and William Baker took some samples for research purposes and discovered the plant’s amazing abilities,

the exposed roots and fruits of Pinanga subterranea. photograph: Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, “I have been studying palms for 30 years and am amazed at how they continue to surprise us,” Dr. William Baker, Senior Research Leader, said. This unexpected find poses many more questions than it answers. What is pollinating the palm? How does the pollinator find the flowers underground? How did this phenomenon evolve and what on Earth will palms surprise us with next?” Dr Kuhnhäuser, adds: “Identifying Pinanga subterranea as new to science would not have been possible without extensive reference collections of palms in botanical institutions in Indonesia, Malaysia and at Kew, as well as decades of expertise in our team in collecting and identifying palms. This research is a reminder that we need to keep investing in both in taxonomic collections and the next generation of plant experts to allow similar mind-boggling discoveries in the future. There is so much left to discover about our increasingly threatened natural world.” what an amazing find and adaptation.