It’s a jungle out there on the misty hillsides of Tortola. With no people passing through for years at a time, the steep, tucked away sections of the island can hide mysterious and rare plants – which is exactly what makes them so compelling for botanists like those visiting from the United Kingdom’s Kew Gardens.
On their most recent visit to the territory this month, the botanists, who have been working alongside the National Parks Trust, believe they may have discovered a new species of bromeliad near Sage Mountain National Park.
“We just don’t know what it is,” Marcella Corcoran said Tuesday afternoon at the J.R. O’Neal Botanic Gardens, while her colleague Sara Barrios showed a small flower preserved in a jar. None of the Kew or NPT botanists had ever seen this particular bromeliad.
“I think this one is a species that has never been recorded in the British Virgin Islands,” Ms. Barrios said. Once the plant sample gets to Kew’s herbarium in London, the botanists will be able to compare it to similar plants found in the region to see if they have a match.
See the July 25, 2013 edition for full coverage.
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