Scientists have a surprise in store for Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio this new year. Yes, you read that right! The actor’s name has been given to a tropical, evergreen tree from Cameroon, a plant species new to science in 2022. To commemorate his campaigning efforts to protect the Ebo forest from logging, the tree has been christened Uvariopsis DiCaprio.
With the name of this tree, scientists can add to the list of weird and spectacular plants that have been named in the past year. The research was done by Martin Cheek, of the UK’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Additionally, researchers from the National Herbarium of Cameroon and the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, are participating in the study. According to them, the tree was previously unknown to science and to the local population.
For those interested in identifying the DiCaprio tree, it stands at around four meters tall and has large glossy yellow-green flowers that grow on the trunk. It is closely related to the ylang-ylang tree (Cananga odorata), which can be found in India, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia. The tree named after the star is in critically endangered status.
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