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D<\/span>espite its name, this is no light source for a woodland sprite. What you\u2019re gazing at is a type of fairy lantern, an incredibly rare plant. Beyond its mystical appearance and whimsical name, the newly described species is unusual in that it gobbles up energy not from the sun, like most flora, but from fungi in the soil.<\/p>\n Thismia selangorensis<\/em> was discovered by scientists in the lush Hulu Langat Forest Reserve in Malaysia. In 2023, naturalist Tan Gim Siew was stopping by to snap some photos in the forest, and noticed a wee, 4-inch-tall plant that had sprouted up in leaf litter near the roots of a riverside tree. During follow-up surveys of the area, fewer than 20 individuals of T. selangorensis<\/em> were counted over an area of around 1.5 square miles, according to a paper<\/a> recently published in PhytoKeys<\/em>. People have spent time in the area for decades\u2014it\u2019s a camping and picnic spot not far from the country\u2019s capital of Kuala Lumpur\u2014but the species hasn\u2019t been officially documented until now.<\/p>\n