Ten Extremely Rare Seeds on the Brink of Extinction
The Millennium Seed Bank has set out to collect 25 percent of the world's plant species by 2020—before it is too late
- By Megan Gambino
- Smithsonian.com, May 14, 2012
(Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)
Name: St. Helena boxwood (Mellissia begoniifolia)
Status: In the late 1990s, after a century or more of thinking it extinct, conservationists located a few surviving Mellissia begoniifolia on St. Helena, a 50-square-mile island in the South Atlantic. The IUCN listed the species critically endangered in 2003, and by 2010, only one shrub clung to life. That lone survivor has since died, and so the species is considered extinct in the wild. Efforts are being made to cultivate new plants from seeds and reintroduce them to the island.
Threats: Aphids and caterpillars often infest the plants, and mice, rabbits and goats nibble on them. The boxwoods grow between boulders along the coast and often suffer from drought. The rocks can also shift, crushing the plants.
Learn more about St. Helena boxwoods at the Encyclopedia of Life.
Comments (3)
Mulanje cedar is really going. I concieve a plan to conduct a research at Chambe Basin but I don't have enough resources. Anyone who may wish to offer support should contact me. I'm currently studying forestry at Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife. The research is part of the fulfillment for the award of the diploma. please help me.
Posted by Frank Fred on May 4,2013 | 05:14 PM
we have some in the woods but we are not allowed to touch them
Posted by corbin geyer on September 7,2012 | 12:08 AM
It is endemic to the Mulanje Massif of Malawi, but yet it is a pioneer species. It can be used for reforesting high elevation forests throughout southern Africa. One of the most endangered forest types in Africa are montane forest. This could be the pioneer species, that can help in assisting in reforestation techniques.
Posted by Tim Upham on August 30,2012 | 04:53 PM