The plant, formally known as Ovicula biradiata, is especially notable for being the simultaneous discovery of a new species and genus. It was found with help from the community science app iNaturalist.

The Wooly Devil is a belly plant, meaning it is so small that it can only be properly seen when lying on the ground.

Deb Manley was exploring a remote area of Big Bend National Park when she spotted something unusual on the ground. Tiny, fuzzy, flowering plants were sprouting up from between the desert rocks in the Texas park’s northern region.

The small plant, officially named “Ovicula biradiata" and more affectionately called “wooly devil,” was first spotted in March 2024, sprinkled among

A new plant species, Ovicula biradiata, has been discovered in Big Bend National Park, marking the first such discovery in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 yea

The Wooly Devil, or Ovicula biradiata​, was first spotted by botany volunteer Deb Manley and a park ranger in Big Bend National Park in Texas in March 2024.

The team sequenced the plant’s DNA and compared it with other specimens in the California Academy of Sciences’ herbarium. The sequencing revealed that this small and fuzzy plant is both a new species within the sunflower group and distinct enough to be a completely new genus.

A new fuzzy plant species called the "Wooly Devil" has been discovered amongst the arid landscapes of Big Bend National Park in Texas.

A new plant species was recently discovered in Texas’ Big Bend National Park. It’s being called the “wooly devil.”

In sun-scorched expanse of Big Bend National Park, where the Chihuahuan Desert stretches seemingly endlessly, Deb Manley was lying on her stomach, peering at the ground. What she saw was no ordinary desert plant.