The Keelung City Government and the Wild Bird Society of Keelung are aiming to restore the Lysimachia candida, a species thought to be extinct since the early 1900s, at an ecological pool near Keelung’s Nuannuan District (暖暖).
The last time the plant was officially recorded was in 1897 by Japanese naturalist Seikihiro Yano.
Considered extinct by the Red List of Vascular Plants of Taiwan report, the plant was last month discovered by a plant enthusiast surnamed Su (蘇).
Photo provided by the Wild Bird Society of Keelung
Su said that she found the plant growing on a grassy slope, and sent a photograph to other enthusiasts because she had never seen it before.
Chung Shih-wen (鐘詩文), an expert at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, and Yang Tsung-yu (楊宗愈), a researcher at the National Museum of Natural Science, visited the ecological pool and identified the plant as Lysimachia candida.
The plant has flourished, with three to four clusters within a range of 100m, the experts said, adding that they surmised the clusters have been growing for about three to five years.
Society director Shen Chin-feng (沈錦豐) on Friday said that the city government should be credited for the rediscovery of the plant, as it had used lawn mowers and not herbicides to maintain the grass near the ecological pool.
The plant is facing the sun and is not covered by trees, meaning that given time, its survival is almost guaranteed, Shen said.
The society would be keeping the plant’s location a secret for now, Shen said, urging others who know about the discovery to also keep quiet to increase the chances that the plant will survive.
Shen also called on plant enthusiasts not to remove the plant from its habitat and to allow it to flourish and grow.
The plant usually develops fruit between March and July, the city government said, adding that it had agreed to collaborate with the society.
The society would be tasked with collecting the seeds of the plant while the city government would nurture the plants, it said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS