Rare wild plant species reappears in China's Heilongjiang after 3 decades

HARBIN -- A wild population of Brasenia schreberi, a plant under national second-class protection in China, has been rediscovered in Mudanjiang, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, marking its first recorded wild occurrence in the province in over 30 years, the Northeast Forestry University said Tuesday.

Li Zhongyue, a lecturer at Shandong Agricultural University, explained that Brasenia schreberi is a perennial aquatic herb belonging to the genus Brasenia in the family Cabombaceae. In China, it is primarily distributed in the Yangtze River Basin and regions to the south. Rich in mucilage, the plant holds significant economic value.

Li is a member of the provincial survey team conducting research on nationally protected key wild plant species in Heilongjiang, jointly formed by Northeast Forestry University, Shandong Agricultural University, and local conservation units.

The survey team discovered a wild population of Brasenia schreberi in a natural water body in Mudanjiang. The population, moderate in size and showing healthy growth, serves as an important indicator of local ecological recovery and offers valuable insight into the species' distribution patterns across China, according to Li.

Brasenia schreberi was last seen in Heilongjiang in 1992. Since then, no further wild occurrences have been reported in the province, and other authoritative botanical references in China likewise excluded Heilongjiang from the species' known distribution, until this recent rediscovery.

Mu Liqiang, a professor at the Northeast Forestry University and director of the survey, noted that Heilongjiang has been steadily advancing its biodiversity conservation efforts in recent years, and the province is currently home to around 40 species of national second-class protected plants.