A flowering shrub from the Andean cloud forests made taxonomic history last month. The plant--now dubbed Brunfelsia plowmaniana --had puzzled botanists for decades as they endeavored to determine whether or not it was truly an evolutionary newcomer. When its DNA revealed this to be true, researchers made the unprecedented move to include B. plowmaniana 's genetic code in its description as a new species, in the journal PhytoKeys . That decision could open the door to future DNA definitions of new botanical species--and heal a rift in the field of botany.
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