Things have moved on… Let us meet Primula xideensis.
Less than a week passed from its discovery to everyone’s efforts to document it.
Unexpectedly, we then found that it had suddenly been published by another group of researchers.
I did not contribute much myself, but I feel especially sorry for those students. They were full of enthusiasm and worked with real seriousness. They first discovered it during a trip and sent me photos to ask about it. After I told them that it was a new species, they immediately travelled all the way from Chengdu back to the site — a very long journey.
They photographed the diagnostic details with such care. You can look at the details in Figure 2: they are simply artistic, almost epic. I even feel ashamed that my own work often cannot reach their level of dedication.
Unfortunately, the result was not what we had hoped for. That is why I feel particularly sorry for these students. Their efforts deserved better.