New Species
Eleven new species of animals and plants were discovered in the Green Corridor between 2005 and 2006. They include two butterflies and a snake, as well as five orchids and three other plants, all of which are exclusive to tropical forests in Vietnam’s Annamite Mountains. Ten other plant species, including four orchids, are still under examination but also appear to be new species. Several large mammal species, including the saola, were discovered in the same forests in the 1990s.
The new snake species, called the white-lipped keelback (Amphiesma leucomystax), tends to live by streams where it catches frogs and other small animals. It has a yellow-white stripe that sweeps along its head and red dots cover its body. It can reach about 80 centimeters in length.
The butterfly species are among eight discovered in the province since 1996. One is a skipper — a butterfly with quick, darting flight habits — from the genus Zela. The other is a new genus in the subfamily of Satyrinae.
Three of the new orchid species are entirely leafless, which is rare for orchids. They contain no chlorophyll and live on decaying matter. The other new plants include an aspidistra, which produces a flower that is nearly black. A newly discovered aroid species has beautiful yellow spathes (aroids often have funnel-shaped spathes surrounding their tiny flowers, which are clustered together on a spadix).
Read more about this topic: Vietnam's Green Corridor
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)