Tourist's Photo Accidentally Leads to Discovery of New Flower Species

A previously unknown species of plant was accidentally discovered after a tourist posted her photograph online.

The unnamed German tourist photographed the flower while on vacation in Monchique, a town in Portugal’s Algarve region. She later uploaded the image to iNaturalist, an online platform where members of the public record observations of plants and wildlife. The photograph caught the attention of Portuguese botanist João Farminhão.

Farminhão suspected from the tourist’s photograph that the unusual plant could be a previously unidentified species of toadflax. The photograph had been taken in March 2023 during the tourist’s trip around Portugal and was initially identified as a different species. A year later, Farminhão traveled to Cerro do Castelo de Alferce in Monchique, where he found a small population of the plant.

Farminhão discovered that the species had never previously been described in the scientific literature, according to Portuguese newspaper Público. The new species was named Alferce ansarina, or Linaria alfercensis, after the locality where it grows. Its flowers are distinguished by speckled yellow petals and two dark stripes on the underside. The plants also have an erect growth habit, unlike their closest relatives.

Farminhão, a researcher at the University of Coimbra’s Centre for Functional Ecology (CFE), led a study of the species which was published last month, alongside researchers from the universities of Lisbon and Barcelona and Madrid’s Royal Botanical Garden. The researchers have proposed that the species be classified as “Endangered,” as only a few dozen flowering plants are currently known to exist. Threats identified include eucalyptus plantations, invasive mimosa acacia, and the risk of wildfires in the Monchique area. Officials have introduced conservation measures at the site where the plant’s population is concentrated.

Photographers do not always realize the significance of what they have captured until long after they press the shutter. Earlier this year, two nature photographers unexpectedly made a remarkable discovery when they photographed a Rusty Lark, a small bird that had been thought to be extinct for nearly a century. Their images provided the first definitive record of the species in 94 years and marked the first known photographs of the little-known bird, which is native to Africa’s Sahel region.

Previously, PetaPixel also reported on a pair of photographers who unexpectedly shot the first-ever images of two humpback whales engaged in sexual intercourse — and even more remarkably, the sexual encounter was between two males.