Science

Scientists discover rare parasitic plant species in western Thailand

Researchers identified Thismia daemona, a subterranean flowering plant known from fewer than 50 individuals in Thong Pha Phum National Park.

Updated Sep 4, 2026 · 13:18 UTC1 reports

The short version

Botanists identified a new non-photosynthetic flowering plant, Thismia daemona, in western Thailand's Thong Pha Phum National Park.
The plant spends most of its lifecycle underground, drawing nourishment from fungi rather than sunlight.
With fewer than 50 documented specimens in a single small area, the species has received a provisional status of Critically Endangered.

Researchers from Chulalongkorn University and Prince of Songkla University discovered the new species Thismia daemona at an elevation of approximately 1,000 meters in Thong Pha Phum National Park.[ScienceDaily]
The plant lacks chlorophyll, does not perform photosynthesis, lives largely beneath leaf litter, and derives nutrients via underground fungi.[ScienceDaily]
The discovery extends the known geographic range of the Thismia section Geomitra further north, having previously only been recorded in Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and Sumatra.[ScienceDaily]
The species is currently documented from a single population of fewer than 50 individuals in an area smaller than a football pitch, leading to a provisional Critically Endangered assessment.[ScienceDaily]
The findings were published in the open-access scientific journal PhytoKeys, raising the total number of known Thismia species in Thailand to 16.[ScienceDaily]

Whether additional populations of Thismia daemona exist outside the single surveyed site in Thong Pha Phum National Park remains unknown.[ScienceDaily]
The formal conservation status of the species is preliminary pending formal evaluation beyond the researchers' provisional Critically Endangered assessment.[ScienceDaily]

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