Plant named ‘Gasteranthus extinctus’ no longer extinct

Published April 16, 2022 8:04pm ET



A flower once thought to be extinct is no longer pushing up daisies, unexpectedly reemerging after almost 40 years.

The orange-petaled flower, named Gasteranthus extinctus, was found when a team of scientists visited the Centinela Ridge in Ecuador in November 2021, according to a scientific article published Friday. To avoid damaging what remained of the plants, photos of the flowers were sent to a taxonomic expert who confirmed the flowers were the not-so-extinct G. extinctus, according to a press release from the Field Museum.

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