Rare plant rediscovered in Turkey’s Amasya after 24 years

AMASYA

A rare plant has been rediscovered after 24 years in the Black Sea province of Amasya.

An endemic rare plant, named “alkanna haussknechtii bornm,” was rediscovered in Amasya during efforts of academics from Amasya University and officials from the General Directorate of National Parks.

The rare plant was found and first recorded in Amasya’s Mount Lokman in 1889. However, it has not been picked or monitored since 1994, according to a postgraduate thesis by scientist Arzu Cansaran, who found that the plant was most recently monitored in Amasya’s Mount Kırklar and Şeyhcui neighborhoods, as well as around the village of Kaleköy.

The plant was found again around Aydınlar village in 2017 as part of a study titled “National Biological Diversity Inventory and Monitoring Project,” conducted by the Forestry and Water Affairs Ministry and the General Directorate of National Parks.

Academic Cengiz Yıldırım from Amasya University said the rare plant, which was found in three different points in Amasya, could be at risk of submergence due to the rising water level of the dam. They therefore carried the plants to a higher point in order to protect them.