Never-Before-Seen Orchid Recovered From Minefield, Cardamom Mountains

However, Schuiteman went on to explain that it was worth the risk. This year about half the plants collected - including 20 species never before seen in Cambodia - have come into flower.

One was even officially identified as a new species of wild orchid - an exciting revelation after a two-year waiting game. This species has yet to be named, but boast a deep maroon color that slightly glistens under the Sun.

Christopher Ryan, the Kew Nursery and Orchid Collection Manager, added that the botanists are likely in for even more surprises, as they continue to wait for the rest of the samples to flower.

"We expect that more of our plants will turn out to be new country records for Cambodia and we would not be surprised if one or two were altogether new to science," he excitedly announced in a recent blog post. "Continued collaboration and more fieldwork in other parts of Cambodia is needed before we can produce a reasonably complete inventory of the orchid flora of this intriguing country."

Unfortunately, most of these Cambodian species are still being held in quarantine at Kew, for fear that they could contaminate or even unintentionally crossbreed with the garden's other stunning orchid collections.

"Still, many other similar southeast Asian species can be seen in the orchid displays in the Princess of Wales Conservatory as part of Kew's Orchids festival," Ryan said.

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