Tales of triumph in quests to find rare flora

2. Frankenia tuvinica, found in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region

In June 2018, Zhou and several friends took photos of a species of Frankenia on the shore of Lake Sayram in Xinjiang. According to the book Flora of China, there is only one species of Frankenia, Frankenia pulverulenta, distributed in the country. So Zhou considered the plant they saw to be of that species.

In July 2020, he discovered the plant again at Lake Sayram and posted photos he took of it on his WeChat Moments. A researcher from Inner Mongolia saw the photos and told Zhou that the flower he saw was probably not Frankenia pulverulenta, but Frankenia tuvinica, a new plant species in China.

In September last year, Zhou traveled to Ejine Banner in Inner Mongolia and saw a real Frankenia pulverulenta. By comparing photos, he was able to determine that the plant he saw in Xinjiang was indeed Frankenia tuvinica.