Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - A new species of magnolia was discovered last year in the mountains along the periphery of Puerto Vallarta. As its range is believed to be limited only to small tracks of forests in this region including those entirely within the Puerto Vallarta city limits, it has aptly been named Magnolia Vallartensis.

The forest where Vallartensis was discovered is with all certainty one of the most northerly occurring of the famously bio diverse tropical cloud forests along the Pacific Coast of Mexico. These richly mixed forests contain a combination of tropical and temperate plants and are high in numbers of endemic and endangered species from plants such as magnolias and orchids to animals including parrots and jaguars.

The Vallarta Botanical Gardens are now cooperating with researchers from the University of Guadalajara and the OPD Xihutla for the conservation of Magnolia Vallartensis and the cloud forests of our region.

Conservation goals include the creation of an ex-situ magnolia collection at the Gardens specializing in Mexican species and a designated preserve of the "Magnolia Vallartensis Cloud Forest" - complete with a hiking trail system open to the public.