Download Plants back from the brink of extinction at Kew Gardens

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Plants back from the brink of extinction at Kew Gardens
Nymphaea thermarum (Common name: ‘thermal’ waterlily)
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Endemic to one known location in south west Rwanda
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Disappeared 2 years ago due to over-use of hot spring feeding its habitat
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Entire population of just 30 plants believed to be found just at Kew Gardens
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Believed to be smallest waterlily in the world (smallest pads 1cm)
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Also a ‘no-waterlily’: does not grow submerged in deep water
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Uses: Some species of waterlily are edible, such as Nymphaea gigantea and N.
carpentariae, which are a food source for Aboriginal people
Ramosmania rodriguesii (Common name: café marron)
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Restricted to island of Rodrigues, Republic of Mauritius
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Thought to be extinct for 40 years, but 1 individual rediscovered
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Cuttings sent to Kew Gardens in 1986; several specimens regularly flowered
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However, never set seed until a pollination breakthrough in 2003 when café
marron bore its first fruit with viable seeds. This made possible the
reintroduction of this species into the wild
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In April 2010, more than 300 seeds and seedlings were repatriated
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Seed is stored in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank
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Uses: It is believed a tea made from the leaves can treat venereal diseases and
hangovers, although this has not been scientifically proven
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http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Ramosmania-rodriguesii.htm
Mellissia begoniifolia (Common name: St Helena boxwood)
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From St Helena in the South Atlantic
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Small evergreen shrub from the potato family which grows on rocky shores
and hills – affectionately known as ‘the ugliest plant at Kew’
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Currently extinct in the wild: recently, the last known wild population of just
seven individuals died
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13,000 seeds from Kew have been sent to St Helena for germination in a
conservation nursery and it has also been introduced into several sites where
it originally grew
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Seed is stored in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank
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http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Mellissia-begoniifolia.htm
Acacia anegadensis (Common name: poke-me-boy)
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Thought to occur on only one island in the British Virgin Islands (Anegada
Island), until a small population was discovered in 2008 on the small
uninhabited island of Fallen Jerusalem
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Critically endangered: a small tree under threat from global warming (at its
highest point Anegada Island is only 3m above sea level)
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Kew has completed a propagation protocol, essentially a blueprint for
cultivation for conservationists in BVI
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Seed is stored in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank
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Uses: It is a coastal species that tolerates salinity and wind exposure, and is
therefore useful for avoiding coastal soil erosion
Rondeletia buxifolia (Common name: pribby)
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Endemic to Montserrat Island and critically endangered
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Kew has been working with the Montserrat National Trust to conserve the
island’s plant life, much of which was destroyed by volcanic activity in 1997
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The Botanic Garden in Montserrat has planted a demonstration hedge of
Rondeletia buxifolia along the garden boundary, demonstrating its potential
as a native hedging plant instead of exotic species that are a threat to the
island’s endemic plants
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Seed is stored in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank
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http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Rondeletia-buxifolia.htm
Epidendrum montserratense (Common name: Montserrat orchid)
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Endemic to Montserrat, habitat loss due to volcanic activity
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Plants on display are very small and have just been weaned from Kew’s
Conservation Biotechnology Unit (CBU), where they were growing in culture
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Many plants have been re-established in the Botanic Garden in Montserrat –
these plants were rescued from the limbs of dead trees in the area affected by
the volcano
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Seed is stored in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank
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http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Epidendrum-montserratense.htm
Pteris adscensionis
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Endemic fern from Ascension Island
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Pteris adscensionis is critically endangered; very small populations in just 3
sites in Ascension
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Kew’s CBU has successfully propagated this species and stored it in liquid
nitrogen at -196 degree C as a method of long term storage. It is also growing
in Kew’s Tropical Nursery
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The Ascension Island Conservation Officer has been to Kew to learn fern
propagation techniques and Kew has helped set up a micropropagation
laboratory on the island
Cylindrocline lorencei
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From Mauritius, considered to be extinct in the wild since 1990
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Rescued by Brest Botanic Gardens by rescuing embryos in vitro from nonviable seeds
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Plants were grown in-vitro and a back-up collection was sent to Kew
(partnership working between botanic gardens is vital for successful
conservation)
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Plants were micropropagated in the CBU at Kew and a collection developed
for repatriation
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Three years ago Kew repatriated 15 plants and re-introduction to the wild is
planned to start soon
http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Cylindrocline-lorencei.htm
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Tahina spectabilis (Common name: dimaka)
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From Madagascar; biggest threat is habitat loss
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An enormous palm (trunk over 18m high) that remained undetected until
2007
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Its discovery captured the imagination of the world’s media, who dubbed it
the ‘suicide palm’ (thought to grow for 50 years, flowers spectacularly, then
dies)
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Seed has been distributed to botanic gardens around the world to ensure exsitu conservation
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http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Tahina-spectabilis.htm
Trochetiopsis ebenus (Common name: St Helena Ebony)
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Once widespread on the island of St Helena
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Survives in the wild as just two bushes perched high on a cliff
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In the 1980s staff from Kew worked with the islanders to develop methods of
propagating the species from cuttings
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Since then thousands of cuttings have been reintroduced at natural sites on
the island as well as in private gardens
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Seed is stored in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank
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http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Trochetiopsis-ebenus.htm
Abutilon pitcairnense
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Only found on the island of Pitcairn, in the Pacific Ocean
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Presumed extinct until a flowering specimen was rediscovered in 2003
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Propagated just before its site was destroyed by a landslide
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Along with Nymphaea thermarum is one of the newest additions to Kew’s
conservation collection
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The plant on display is very young, but it will be spectacular when it matures
(bright yellow flowers)
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Rooted from cuttings taken from plants at the National Botanic Gardens of
Ireland in Dublin
Photos are available to download at www.kew.org/press
For further information and a password please contact Bronwyn Friedlander, Bryony
Phillips, Jo Maxwell and Tarryn Barrowman at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew press
office on 020 8332 5607 or email [email protected]