Taiwan Pleione is spotted in Pan'an county, Jinhua, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Tide News]
Taiwan Pleione, also known as Pleione formosana Hayata, was recently discovered in Pan'an county, Jinhua, Zhejiang province, marking the first time that a relatively stable natural community of the plant species has been found in the region.
The discovered community comprises over 50 plants, offering valuable baseline data for further research on the distribution, habitat, and population dynamics of the plant within the Dapanshan Protection Area of Pan'an.
As a national second-class protected wild plant endemic to China, Taiwan Pleione graces the landscape with its blooming flowers from April to June. This species thrives in rich humus soil beneath evergreen broad-leaved forests, along the fringes of shrub forests, and atop moss-covered rocks with altitudes ranging from 900 to 3,600 meters. Its habitat spans Taiwan, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi, and more.
Taiwan Pleione also holds significance as a renowned Chinese medicinal herb, as the bulbous pseudobulbs of the plant are utilized in traditional medicine practices.
Senior forestry engineer Zhang Sujiong highlighted the initial discovery of the species in Pan'an back in 2018, where only a few isolated plants were found within the protection area. The recent discovery now signifies the presence of a more stable population in the region.
