New plant species discovered in US national park for first time in 50 years

• A botany volunteer discovered a never-before-seen plant species in Texas’ Big Bend National Park. Park botanists have dubbed the tiny plant the “wooly devil.”
• DNA analysis of the flowering plant shows it’s related to daisies but has its own genus.
• Researchers continue to investigate whether the species has medicinal properties.

---

Full Story

For the first time in half a century, a volunteer botanist discovered a new plant species at one of America’s national parks. The plant, dubbed the “wooly devil,” was first spotted in 2024 in Texas’ Big Bend National Park.

The plant was unlike anything anyone had ever seen at the park before, so park officials researched it.

What do we know about the ‘wooly devil’?

After combing through plant databases, contacting experts and asking for help online, park officials realized they had something unique on their land.

Scientists said the “wooly devil” falls into the daisy family and is closely related to paperflowers and bitterweed. However, a DNA analysis found it’s so genetically unique that it had to be considered a new genus.

The plant is also much smaller than its cousins, ranging from less than one centimeter to 3-7 centimeters across.

Its official name is ovicula biradiata. Ovicula means tiny sheep, since it’s fuzzy, and biradiata refers to the two ray-like petals in each flower.

Where does it grow?

So far, botanists have only found the plant in three narrow locations in the northernmost corner of the 800,000-acre national park.

What’s next for this new discovery?

Researchers said they’re now investigating the “wooly devil’s” potential medicinal properties after they noticed under a microscope it has glands similar to those in other plants that are known to possess compounds with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.