Native and endemic to Hidalgo, Cosmos Chocolate, flor ornamental and exotic, valued for its beauty, had disappeared from its natural habitat in Mexico and was believed to have been extinct in the wild since the last century, until Dr. Bulmaro Morales Vázquez, researcher and professor at the Chapingo Autonomous University (UACh), together with a team of professors, found a small sample in the Hidalgo mountains.
Originating from Old Monte Cristo, municipality of Las Margaritas, Chiapas, from the age of 12 he decided to leave his town to continue his studies, since “there were no more opportunities there.”
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In 2015, he graduated as an agronomist, specialist in phytotechnics, from the UACh; In 2017, he completed his master’s degree in Horticultural Sciences and in 2023, the doctorate in the same area, which allowed him to complete his degree thesis focused on the genetic improvement of ornamental plants, specifically, the cosmos atrosanguineus sherff.
Chiapas scientist, Bulmaro Morales, recovers a flower that was considered extinct.
He was awarded the “Arturo Fregoso Urbina 2023” prize, awarded by the Chapingo Autonomous University to the best master’s and doctoral theses.Source: Chiapas Sin Censura pic.twitter.com/Nl5fQePhMq
— INNOQUOS (@inoquos) December 12, 2024
Rescue road
During the investigation, the team led by doctors José Merced Mejía Muñoz and Teresa Colinas León, professors at the UACh, found a small wild population of the specimen in its natural habitat. From that moment, they developed a program of conservation, use and genetic improvement. Thanks to this, Bulmaro was able to complete his thesis and, at the same time, make a contribution to the country.
He added that the flower “Cosmos Chocolate “At some point it competed with Christmas Eve, which years ago had an exotic value outside of Mexico.”
“Although my hypothesis is that there were people who ate its roots or flowers, they even offered them as medicine,” he explained.
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Morales Vazquez He said that “small pieces of stem were collected and introduced into laboratories with an in vitro culture technique; Afterwards, pollination was carried out through manual crosses and, in the end, seeds were obtained, from which a selection can be made. Flowering takes between 90 and 120 days.”
So far, the young researcher explained, they have more than four thousand seeds of this flower that smells like chocolate, which have been divided as material for wild plants and a variety for sale.
In Mexico, There are more than ten thousand species of plants, of which around two thousand 500 are considered under some type of threat; Of these, 945 endemic species are in danger of extinction.
“In Chiapas, the orchid has been threatened with disappearance; dahlias and orchids, to name a few, are in danger of disappearing; in the case of Cosmos, was due to the modification of ecological niches and the overextraction”, he added.
THEY PROJECT TO SELL IT
The also academic of the Autonomous University of Chiapas He explained that having found and phyto-breeded the Cosmos Chocolate flower was not everything, since the objective is to generate ten thousand seeds by the end of this year or in 2025, in order to take them to areas where they can reproduce freely.
On the other hand, “the cultivated variety, which has been made through laboratory, generates between 500 and a thousand plants for sale,” the teacher said, because “this is the next step, to make known the value of this ornamental plant and sell it.”
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In order to generate specimens and market them, it is necessary to provide care to the seed, among which are: “temperature greater than 15 degrees, until flowering. Once there, provide shade and very little sun, take care of humidity and cold, because it does not tolerate frost,” he explained.
For the teacher of the Unachit is not only important to investigate, but also to “undertake based on the findings. Cosmos Chocolate It has international relevance, and it is intended to be put up for sale, a copy will range between 150 and 200 pesos.”
Finally, he added that he also He is a producer in his locality, and now he is going for the improvement in coffee cultivation, an article that was the origin of your love through the countryside instilled by his grandparents.
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