Cryptobotany: In Search of Unknown Plant Species

Cryptobotany, the field of study of unknown plant species, is gaining importance in the scientific world. Unlike conventional botany, cryptobotany focuses on the search for plants that exist only in legends or that have been considered extinct. An interesting example is the Chinese metasequoia, discovered in 1944 after 20 million years of being considered extinct. This article also explores other remarkable discoveries, such as the silver fir and the noble wolfberry, which are changing our perception of Earth's flora.

There are many unknown animal species in the world. Cryptozoologists search for and study them. However, it's not only unknown animals that interest researchers. Unknown plant species also attract their attention.

Cryptobotany is the term for the study of plant species that exist according to various legends, folktales, and eyewitness accounts, but whose existence is currently rejected by contemporary botany. Cryptobotany also explores the possible existence of plant species considered extinct by botanists.

The difference between conventional botany and cryptobotany is essentially only that the latter often accepts evidence for the existence of unknown plant species, which is rejected by botany as not convincing enough.

Some cryptobotanists adopt a scientific approach to their research and exploration, gathering data that indirectly confirms the existence of "cryptoplants," but not definitively postulating their existence until evidence meets the standard standards of botany. In this respect, cryptobotany can be considered a protoscience. Other researchers, however, completely ignore the standards of botany, practicing a form of pseudoscience.