The Spanish botanical community describes 80 new species in 2024 and 2025

In recent years, Spanish botany has maintained a prominent position on the international scientific scene thanks to the intensive research carried out by members of the Spanish Botanical Society (SEBOT). With around a thousand members and steady growth, SEBOT brings together highly qualified professionals who form a collaborative network with an international reach. SEBOT’s scientific commitment is reflected in its ongoing work to study and document plant biodiversity.

The species description It is one of the cornerstones of biology, as the species is the unit upon which our understanding of biodiversity is built and one of the fundamental ways of transferring biological knowledge to society. Knowing how many species there are, what their characteristics are and where they are found is essential for designing effective conservation strategies, particularly in the current context of global change and the accelerated loss of biodiversity, as well as to identify the potential genetic resources that these species harbour. Without a sound taxonomic basis, any management or conservation effort lacks sufficient scientific grounding and may prove futile or even counterproductive.

Against this backdrop, during 2024 and 2025, SEBOT members have reported a total of 80 plant species new to science, including not only flowering plants, but also ferns and as many as ten bryophytes (mosses and related plants). The lists are topped by the genus of sedges Carex, with 24 species, and the Malvaceae family, with 13 species. Furthermore, two of these species, Castrila latens e Inaguochloa pajonalensis, also represent new genres, the taxonomic rank above the species.

These discoveries are not confined to the mainland or the Canary Islands, but extend to areas far various across the globe. During this two-year period, tropical areas of Africa and Latin America have been of particular significance, as a result of collaborations with local botanists in these regions. Quite a few of these species are already under threat at the time of their discovery, as is the case with Acalypha linearis, from Africa, or are found exclusively (endemic) in a few locations, such as Rosa roque-muchachensis, in the Canary Islands, or Clinopodium arundanum, from Andalusia. Every new species described broadens our understanding of plant diversity and highlights the fact that a significant proportion of this biodiversity remains unknown to science.

It is worth noting that this work is taking place at a time of transition for botanical nomenclature. From 2026, plans are in place to create a committee responsible for assessing the appropriateness of scientific names for species, taking into account whether they might be offensive to certain social groups. This initiative aims to promote a science with greater social awareness in view of the potential for irresponsible use of the newly coined names. This also marks the end of an era in which virtually all taxonomists have been sensible, thoughtful, prudent and, at the same time, independent in the process of naming the species they describe. In 2024 and 2025, scientists from SEBOT have named species in honour of botanists (Matisia genesiana, dedicated to Ginés López, the renowned botanist who passed away in 2024), indigenous peoples (Parablechnum shuariorum, dedicated to the Shuai indigenous people of Ecuador) and even with collective dedications (Carex mikasae, which focuses on the feminist struggle through the anime character Mikasa Akerman, or Carex comolaflor, dedicated to Latino immigrants in the US through Selena Quintanilla’s song “Como la flor”). The collection of new species listed here stands as a valuable testament to the responsible and creative exercise of the freedom to name species in the service of scientific knowledge.

The work carried out by the Spanish Botanical Society is essential to prevent numerous species from becoming extinct before they have even been identified. The taxonomic work presented in this paper highlights the key role played by SEBOT and its members in the research, documentation and conservation of plant biodiversity in global scale.

Twenty-three examples of species new to science discovered in 2024 and 2025 by Spanish botanists: from left to right and from top to bottom, the hepatic Sphaerocarpos ibericus (from the Iberian Peninsula), mosses Aloina bracteata (from Argentina), Lewinskya afroindica (from Africa and India) and Pseudocrossidium atacamense (from Chile), the fern Parablechnum shuariorum (from Ecuador) and flowering plants Carex regina (from Peru and Ecuador), Castrila latens (from Granada and Jaén), Ceropegia ornata (from South Africa), Cordia nicandroides (from Colombia), Croton maranonensis (from Ecuador and Peru), Eucomis nubigena (from South Africa), Frankenia dinteri (from South Africa and Namibia), Haemanthus snijmaniae (from South Africa), Litanthus deserticola (Namibia), Matisia boyacensis (from Colombia), Monticalia mingae (from Ecuador), Pentacalia celicana (from Ecuador), Phragmotheca prolifera (Panama), Quararibea centinelae (from Ecuador), Rhodocodon longistamineus (from Madagascar), Rosa gran-canariae (from Gran Canaria), Schizobasis litanthiflora (from South Africa) and Sideritis royoi (from Tarragona).

List of new species described in 2024 and 2025 by botanists belonging to the Spanish Botanical Society (SEBOT)