Two Big Bend National Park staff members discovered a plant species previously unknown to science in a remote area in the northern reaches of the park back in March of 2024. A scientific description of the species was recently published to the peer-reviewed botanical journal PhytoKeys.
A volunteer with the Big Bend National Park botany program and a supervisory interpretive park ranger first noticed the small plant sprinkled among the desert. Upon further investigation they realized it was unlike anything they’d ever seen before.
Photos were taken and uploaded online, databases, herbarium records, plant taxonomy publications, and area experts were consulted, and excitement surrounding a new species began to grow.
Park staff were joined by California Academy of Sciences, Sul Ross University, and Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional in the study of the new plant. It was found that the plant falls into an entirely new genus within the Asteraceae (Daisy) family.
“Now that the species has been identified and named, there is a tremendous amount we have yet to learn about it. I’m excited to discover whether there are other populations in the park, details of its life cycle, what are the pollinators, and due to the current drought, if it will be observed at all this spring.” – Big Bend National Park Superintendent Anjna O’Connor.
The plants official name is Ovicula biradiata, Ovicula meaning tiny sheep and biradiata referencing the two ray petals in each flower. Those studying the plant have named it “wooly devil” or just “wooly”.
