Discovered from a photo on social media: It entered the literature with the name 'Konya'

Retired Prof from Selçuk University Faculty of Science. Dr. Ahmet Duran saw that a person shared a nature photo from Dere District of Konya's Meram district on social media.

Examining the photo, Duran noticed a plant he had not seen before. Duran contacted the owner of the photo and went to the area, found the plant, first photographed it and took samples. Duran determined that this was a species of the 'Sarunotu' plant from the endangered parsley family. The article about the endemic plant was published in the international science journal Phytotaxa after approximately 2 years of work.

DISCOVERY IN THE PHOTO ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Prof. stated that he identified the plant based on a photo shared by someone. Dr. Duran said, "The plant I discovered as endemic is a group of plants from the Apiaceae family called parsiceae. It has a very common species in Türkiye. I saw the photo shared by a Konya lover and the photo caught my attention. I asked him where he took the photo, based on the plant on that photo, I learned that it was in Meram's Dere District and started researching by going to the region. As a result of my research, I discovered that this plant is new."

IT ENTERED THE LITERATURE WITH THE NAME 'KONYA'

Prof. Dr. Duran explained his work on the new plant species as follows:

"The full name of the plant is 'Bilacunaria konyaensis', this is its scientific name. Its Turkish name is 'Konya sarunotu'. It is a plant specific to Konya. It is a plant that grows only in Konya in the world. It is also a very rare plant. It is represented by very few individuals. It is a plant that is under threat of extinction. It is among the plants that must be protected first of all. We scientifically call this plant a monocarpic plant. Monocarpic plants are very rare in the plant kingdom, It is rare. The plant grows from its seed and produces one or two leaves in the winter, but the underground part remains alive. In the second year, three or four leaves grow into a large cluster of 10-15 leaves, and then it grows its stem and produces flowers. It bears fruit and dies completely, giving thousands of tens of thousands of seeds. The plant I discovered is one of this group of plants.