CNN posted an article this morning detailing the top new species of plants and animals discovered in 2008. Among them, a dime-sized seahorse, the worlds longest insect, and a pale, ghostlike slug from Cardiff Wales. (An ex-girlfriend of mine once took off with a man from Cardiff, Wales who had the complexion and physique of an albino slug, so this one seemed somehow fitting.)
But topping the list in my book is Tahina Spectabilis, a species of palm tree from Madagascar that flowers only once in its long lifetime… but that flowering is so spectacular, bold and exhaustive that the plant dies from the effort shortly after.
Call me a tragic-romantic, but who can’t relate?
That’s all. Now excuse me, I’m going to go listen to Nick Drake and Kurt Cobain all day.
