Commidendrum rotundifolium
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| Bastard Gumwood | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Astereae |
| Genus: | Commidendrum |
| Species: | C. rotundifolium |
| Binomial name | |
| Commidendrum rotundifolium (Roxb.) DC. |
|
The Bastard Gumwood (Commidendrum rotundifolium) is a species of tree endemic to the island of Saint Helena. It was thought to be extinct, but one last tree was discovered in Horse Pasture in 1982. This tree, long believed to be the last, was destroyed in 1986 by a gale.
In January 2010 it was reported that there is one bastard gumwood still alive. A team from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew are trying to fertilise it by hand pollination, while protecting it from insects that may cross-pollinate with nearby false gumwoods. Successful fertilisation will occur only if any grains of pollen happen to have mutations that will suppress the tree's mechanisms for preventing self-pollination.[1]
[edit] Source
- Cairns-Wicks, R. 2003. Commidendrum rotundifolium. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org.
- ^ "Fight to save dying plant species". BBC. 19 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8469004.stm. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
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