Through its gazette, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) reported that a research group identified a new species of tree: the Coutaportla lorenceana.
In the web article, the highest research house explains that the present finding is relevant because it corresponds to microendemism, that is, its distribution is reduced and it is only established in a specific area; in this case, inside the temperate forest of the Sierra Madre Occidental, in the state of Sinaloa.
“Our hypothesis is that the tree develops in a transition space between leeward and windward, where the wind is directed and blown, respectively, since the mountain functions as a kind of barrier to humidity coming from the Pacific Ocean,” Alejandro Torres Montufar, head of the Herbarium of the Faculty of Higher Studies (FES) Cuautitlán, indicated in the text.
“That little breeze that usually falls there every day creates life in very particular conditions. “This makes us think that the Lornceian Coutaportla does not exist in any other corner of the planet,” he stated.
Regarding its physical characteristics, this new species of tree measures, on average, 2 to 4 meters in height, with twigs with a resinous lamellar structure and small flowers that look like small lavender bells, similar to the jacaranda.
For these reasons, it joins the category of Rubiaceae, the fourth largest family of angiosperms within the plant kingdom, which are characterized by attracting pollinators as dispensers.
