New Plant Species Has Been Discovered In Texas at Big Bend National Park

There is something new in Big Bend National Park in Texas, that no one, or at least very few, have seen before. A new, small plant, that as of right now can only be found in Big Bend National Park.

Last March, a volunteer with the botany program at Big Bend National Park, along with a park ranger were the first to notice this tiny plant that was mixed in among the desert rocks in what has been described as a pretty remote area of the park. When they looked closer, the began to realize that the fuzzy plant with an interesting flower was something they had never seen before according to the National Parks Service.

They took pictures of the tiny plant and consulted experts, databases, publications and even posted the pictures online to see if anyone had seen this plant before.

Big Bend National Park Is Home To A New Plant, Never Seen Before

According to the National Park Service, staff joined with the California Academy of Sciences, Sul Ross University and Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional to study the plant found in Big Bend. A genetic analysis showed that the plant wasn't just a new species, but best classified as a new genus within the Daisy family.

Meet The Wooly Devil

The official name of the new plant is Ovicula biradiata. It's named after the appearance of the plant. Ovicula means tiny sheep which is a reference to the white "wool" on the leaves and biradiata is a reference to the two ray petals in each flower. Researchers have also called the plant "wooly devil" and "wooly"

The National Parks Service in a press release said there is still a lot to learn about the tiny plant.