In the Chihuahua desert, a "fluffy devil" was discovered, and its location has been kept secret.

The Big Bend National Park, located in the southwest of Texas on the border with Mexico, is part of the Chihuahua Desert and is renowned for its abundance of unique plants. Even though the area has been well explored, in March 2024, volunteer naturalist Deb Manley noticed an unusual plant emerging through the gravel. Photos of the discovery were shared on the nature observation platform iNaturalist, where they caught the attention of scientists who, with the park administration's permission, collected several samples.

The new species has been named Ovicula biradiata. This tiny "woolly devil" barely rises above the ground (only one to three centimeters), and its leaves are covered with whitish, wavy hairs, allowing the flower to almost blend in with the gravel. The veins of the "petals" (ligulate flowers) are bright red and resemble "horns." Flowering occurs at the end of winter to the beginning of spring, and by May, the plants completely wilt.

After analyzing the find, the authors of the study, published in the journal PhytoKeys, concluded that the plant does not fit into any known genera of the Asteraceae family and represents not just a new species but a new genus. Genetic and morphological analysis results indicated that Ovicula biradiata is a distinct "cousin" of sunflowers and is closest to the genus Psilostrophe, another group of desert flowers.

Botanists were attracted to the inflorescences of the "desert devil" — each bush had only one tiny "head" (capitulum) with a couple of ligulate flowers located on either side of the head. However, their habitat range, as well as their population, is extremely limited: the plant was found at only three locations on the northern edge of the park at an elevation of about 800 meters.

These "miniature" annuals likely emerged as a result of exotic evolutionary adaptations to arid environments; however, prolonged drought has put this newly documented species at risk of extinction. To protect Ovicula biradiata from excessive attention, scientists have kept the exact location of its growth secret and provided only a general description of the area.

Another intriguing discovery was the unusual properties of the "devil": under a microscope, special glandular structures were observed on the stems and flowers, similar to those found in other Asteraceae members that produce biologically active substances (including anti-inflammatory and potentially anti-cancer compounds).