Caves and plants do not seem like a good combo. Plants need sunlight and caves offer very little to none of it. However, plants in general never seem to read the literature we write about them. As such, they are constantly surprising botanists all over the world.

A recent example of this was published back in September of 2012. A team of botanists exploring limestone gorges in southwestern China stumbled upon three new members of the nettle family. One of these nettles seemed to be right at home growing well within two limestone caves.

Needless to say this was quite a shock to the botanists. The regions in which these plants were growing were quite dim, with light levels ranging from a mere 0.04% to a measly 2.78 % of full daylight! Although this is by no means complete darkness, it is an incredibly low amount of sunlight for a plant that still relies on photosynthesis to get by.

They named the nettle Pilea cavernicola in reference to its cave-dwelling habit. While it has only just been discovered, the IUCN considers this species vulnerable. Only two populations are known and their proximity to expanding human activity puts them in danger of rapid extinction.

Photo Credit: Monro & Wei

Further Reading: [1]