1 . Last year, brilliant’ botanists from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, discovered, identified and named 114 spectacular new species of plants and fungi (真菌) from around the world. Let’s find out more about some of Kew’s most wonderful new finds.
ROYAL MUSHROOM
NAME: Queen’s hedgehog fungus
FROM: Surrey, England
Named after the late Queen Elizabeth II, this rare fungus was found in an ancient forest in White Down, Surrey. According to the scientists who discovered it, the soft, white needles under the fungus’15cm-wide cap look like hedgehogs’ needles — giving it the second part of its name. Cool!
WORLD’S STRANGEST DAFFODIL
NAME: Sternbergia mishustinii
FROM: Turkey
The flowers of this rare species are bright yellow, but they’re only 2cm long and don't open up into a visible flower. Just 300 of these plants have been discovered, secret to hide them from illegal plant collectors.
RECORD-BREAKING WATERLILY
NAME: Giant Bolivian waterlily
FROM: Bolivia. South America
Check out this huge waterlily — its 3m wide leaves are big enough for a kid to float on! The big species has just won three Guinness World Records for largest waterlily, largest waterlily leaf and largest undivided leaf. And get this — although the giant plant was only named last year, a dried sample has been kept in Kew’s own Herbarium since 1845! Botanists had thought it was a similar, related species. Thankfully, the case of mistaken identity is all cleared up now. Unbe-leaf-able!
1. What’s Queen’s hedgehog fungus like?| A．It has yellow flowers. | B．It’s native to England. |
| C．It looks like hedgehogs. | D．It’s critically endangered. |
| A．The oldest fungi. | B．The biggest leaves. |
| C．The fastest growing plant. | D．The largest waterlily species |
| A．A botanical magazine. | B．A geographic textbook. |
| C．A historical document. | D．Guinness World Records. |
2 . Wildfire season has begun in many places around the world. The dangerous smoke wildfires produce can spread far and wide. It blocks sunlight, poisons the air and damages the health of people and other living things.
Some of those living things could be the plants in gardens, says gardening expert Jessica Damiano, who writes gardening stories for the Associated Press. Damiano lives in New York City and recently experienced several days of very smoky air. Wildfires in eastern Canada were the source.
Damiano, like other people, limited the time she spent outdoors when the air quality was poor. She also wore a face covering when she had to go outside.
But the plants in her garden had no such escape. They had to breathe the poisoned air through the extremely small holes in their leaves.
Pollutants in smoke landing on plants can block sunlight, which is essential for photosynthesis (光合作用). Reduced photosynthesis results in reduced energy. That means slower growth. Additionally, smoke can also affect a plant’s ability to take in nutrients(营养物质).
Brooke Edmunds, a plant scientist and community horticulturalist with Oregon State University Extension, said plants that are affected by smoke for a short amount of time will usually recover quickly. “It depends on how close they are,” she said. “There could also be a localized effect, where one garden is covered in ash(灰烬), and a half-mile away, there’s nothing because that’s the way the wind was moving things around.”
The best thing home gardeners can do is keep an eye on plants. Edmunds suggests giving plants some extra love and care. “Wash the plants gently to remove pollutants left by smoke. Then give them a long, slow drink of water. Most will pull through,” Edmunds said. However, people should not use leaf blower machines to remove ashes from plants because they will risk breathing in what is blowing around.
1. What happened to Jessica Damiano?| A．She had her house burned in a fire. |
| B．She couldn’t afford face coverings. |
| C．She suffered from health problems. |
| D．She had to deal with poor air quality. |
| A．The bad effects of smoke on plants. |
| B．The benefits of growing plants. |
| C．The role of plants in the environment. |
| D．The importance of water to plants. |
| A．Wind has little effect on plants. |
| B．Plants can sometimes make a quick recovery. |
| C．Ashes can spread more than half a mile. |
| D．Plants close to smoke usually grow well. |
| A．By pulling them out of the ground. |
| B．By using leaf blower machines. |
| C．By washing them with great care. |
| D．By giving them a fast drink of water. |
