Thismia daemona: Thailand’s newly discovered devil flower

Most plants grow in the direction of the Sun. Sunlight provides food, energy and life.

Yet a minute plant found on the shadowy floor of a forest in Thailand seems to defy that fundamental principle.

Picture yourself walking through woodland when you spot a tiny, almost black flower emerging from the leaf litter beneath your feet.

Three elongated, horn-like projections extend from its top, and reddish-orange markings give the impression of glowing eyes. More unusually, the plant lives without sunlight.

It could easily be mistaken for something from a horror film, yet it is entirely real.

Scientists have given the newly identified species a suitably striking name: Thismia daemona, or the “devil flower”.

Researchers at Chulalongkorn University and Prince of Songkla University formally described the species in a study published in PhytoKeys.

Thismia daemona and life without sunlight

The sinister-looking form of T. daemona is not its only remarkable trait. The plant also disregards one of the best-known rules of plant life.

Most plants contain chlorophyll, the green pigment that captures energy from light. They then use this energy to make their own food through photosynthesis.

T. daemona, however, lacks chlorophyll. It is unable to draw energy from sunlight or produce food through photosynthesis.

How, then, does it prevent itself from starving?

The answer is beneath the ground: fungi.

The plant receives the carbon and other nutrients it requires from fungi in the soil. Scientists refer to this lifestyle as mycoheterotrophy.

In simple terms, rather than facing the Sun, the devil flower connects itself to an underground network of fungi.

This relationship enables it to persist on the dark forest floor. For most of its life, it remains concealed below fallen leaves and only emerges above ground briefly to flower and set fruit.

Discovery of the devil flower in western Thailand

The researchers found the species in May 2025 at Thong Pha Phum National Park in western Thailand. The specimens grew amongst leaf litter and small bamboo at elevations of roughly 930 to 970 metres (about 3,000 feet).

The site took scientists by surprise, as Thismia species are usually linked with permanently humid rainforests at lower altitudes.

“Finding Thismia daemona was indeed a major surprise,” says Sahut Chantanaorrapint, a botanist at Prince of Songkla University.

The presence of this population in a seasonal mountain forest nearly 1,000 metres above sea level indicates that these plants may withstand a broader range of habitats than scientists had previously understood.

Including its flowers, T. daemona grows to around 12.5 centimetres (5 inches) tall. Its pale-brown, hairy roots look like fragments of coral. The almost black flower features fleshy reddish-orange parts, translucent blue stamens and three fine ‘horns’ that rise above a dome-shaped structure.

Chantanaorrapint says its name reflects the plant’s “hidden, subterranean, and mysterious lifestyle”, along with its “devil-like essence”.

The newly described plant is part of the genus Thismia, a collection of unusual species also called fairy lanterns. Scientists currently recognise around 120 species within the genus.

To establish that the plant was a new species, the team studied its physical characteristics through microscopy and high-resolution photography. They also examined five sections of its nuclear and mitochondrial DNA and compared the findings with those from other Thismia species.

Its nearest known relative seems to be Thismia betung-kerihunensis, which occurs in Borneo. However, the value of this discovery goes beyond simply adding another unusual plant to the known list.

T. daemona belongs to the smaller group Geomitra. Prior to this find, species in that group had only been documented in Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra.

Its discovery in western Thailand pushes the group’s known distribution farther north. It also increases the number of recognised Thismia species in Thailand from 15 to 16.

Conservation concerns for Thismia daemona

However, the devil flower raised concerns almost immediately after becoming known to science.

Just one population has been found, with fewer than 50 plants. The population occupies less than 0.05 square kilometres (0.02 square miles).

While the location is inside a protected national park, it is regularly visited by tourists. Visitors could unintentionally tread on the plants or disrupt the fragile forest-floor habitat on which they and their fungal partners rely.

The researchers have consequently made a provisional assessment of the species as Critically Endangered under International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria. This does not indicate that it has officially been added to the IUCN Red List; the study describes it as an initial assessment.

“Inspiring local people to take pride in their natural heritage not only safeguards the microhabitat, but also supports sustainable, community-led ecotourism,” Chantanaorrapint says.

The devil flower demonstrates that even protected places with frequent visitors may still harbour species unknown to science.

At times, a newly discovered species is not awaiting discovery in a wilderness that is impossibly distant. It can instead be concealed amongst the leaves directly under our feet.

The study appeared in PhytoKeys.

This article was fact-checked by Rebecca Dyer and edited by Rebecca Dyer. Although we take pride in our process, we are only human. If you notice an error, please let us know.