The reporter learned from the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that in the second comprehensive scientific expedition to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the survey of national scientific and technological basic resources, the comprehensive research and protection team of wild plants with extremely small populations at the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found a strange flower that has been considered extinct in the wild for many years - kulu rhododendron - in the mountainous area of Muli County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
Expedition team rediscovers The Rhododendron kuru in the Muli Kulu Mountains (Source: Kunming Institute of Botany)
In September 1929, the American botanist Locke collected a rhododendron specimen in the Kulu Mountains in southwestern Sichuan, but it was not named. It was not until 1953 that the specimen was published as a variant of the sticky cuckoo, which was upgraded to a species in 1978. According to the principles of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, it is named r. Adenosum, Chinese named "Cuckoo". In the 2013 China Biodiversity Red List and Higher Plant Volume jointly released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Red List of Higher Plants of China published by Qin Haining et al. in 2017, rhododendron kushiru was assessed as extinct in the wild. After 1929, the Chinese Digital Herbarium only recorded the specimen "Suspected Kulu Rhododendron" collected in 2008 from Luoji Mountain, Puge County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
The flower of the rhododendron Kuru (Source: Kunming Institute of Botany)
In May this year, research team members Ma Yongpeng, Liu Detuan, Yao Gang and others conducted a survey of Luoji Mountain in Puge County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and Kuilu Mountain in Muli County, where the type specimen was collected. In the course of their investigation of Luoji Mountain, they found that the suspected species of Luoji Mountain and the Kuru Rhododendron were at least obviously different in terms of coat, flower color, and flower shape, so they judged that the suspected species was not Kuru Rhododendron.
"Since mount Kulu no longer exists on the current map, we have consulted the relevant materials and found the relevant records in a classic book." Ma Yongpeng said that "kulu" means "Kangwu" in Muli County, and the only place name in Muli County that retains the keyword of "Kangwu" is the Kangwu Great Temple built during the ming dynasty. Therefore, the expedition team conducted a two-day investigation in the mountainous area around the restored Kangwu Temple, and just when the team members thought that the investigation might be fruitless and about to go down the mountain, they accidentally found a rhododendron with flowers. After comparison with the type specimen and checking with the Flora of China, it was confirmed to be a rhododendron. "Although only one strain has been found so far, it is enough to make the fatigue and hunger of the team members disappear in an instant." Ma Yongpeng said excitedly.
Members of the Second Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Comprehensive Scientific Expedition in the MuliKulu Mountains (Source: Kunming Institute of Botany)
This multidisciplinary combination of field science investigation has rewritten the history of the "wild extinction" of the kuru rhododendron. The research team believes that it is necessary to further systematically investigate, thoroughly find out the resource background of this species, and carry out rescue protection and systematic research.