Flower named after Yukoner who discovered it

Ever wonder how toget a flower named after you?

"Try and get to the tops of mountains" is the advice given byYukon biologist Bruce Bennett.

After doing just that, he discovered a newspecies of a little yellow flower that nowbears his name: Drababruce-bennettii.

The unique flowerwas officially recognized and named in a paper recently published by the Harvard University Herbaria, which called it "a remarkable new species from Yukon Territory, Canada."

According to the paper's author, American botanist IhsanA.Al-Shehbaz, Draba bruce-bennettiihas "linear to linear-oblanceolate basal leaves...oblong fruit pubescent with simple and forked trichomes, fruiting pedicels pilose with simple trichomes, and yellow, obovate petals."

In other words, Bennett says, it's "a pretty yellow alpine Draba."

'I don't know what this is'

When Bennett first saw and collected his specimensin 2012,he didn't realize he'dfound something unusual.Flowers of the genus Drabaare relatively common in the alpine regions of the North. There are more than 350 known species.

Bennett had been tagging along with another researcher, who was using a helicopter to reach remote mountainsin Southern Yukon andcollect alpineplant specimens.

"I found this yellow Draba all over the place, and I like Drabas, and it was a particularly nice one.So I collected a few of those," Bennettrecalled.

He brought them home for his flower collection his herbariumis renowned in botanical circles and discovered he couldn't accurately identifyhis find.

"The moment I put it under the scope, Iwent, 'Idon't know what this is,'" he said.

Bennett sent samples off to Al-Shehbaz, a curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden, who confirmed that Bennett had found something new.

"He sent me this email and he said, I'm going tocall it Draba bruce-bennettii,'"Bennett said.

"I kind of laughed ... Until he sent me the manuscript, I thought he was just pulling my leg."

Native to Canada

Bennett calls the name"a great honour" because new species aren't typically named after people,but rather their place of discovery (there's already a Drabayukonensis), or some distinguishing characteristic.

The little yellow plant is now recognized as one of the relatively few species of plant or animal native to Canada (Bennett estimates there are about 170, with less than half of them plants).

"There's probably a number of other things out there yet to be discovered," Bennett said.

"I mean, we're just finding new bees, and new small mammals and things as well.So, biodiversity is rich here in Yukon,and it's a fun placeto wander around."