| Sophora toromiro | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Sophora |
| Species: | S. toromiro |
| Binomial name | |
| Sophora toromiro | |
Sophora toromiro, commonly known as toromiro, is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to Easter Island.
Heavy deforestation had eliminated most of the island's forests by the first half of the 17th century, and the once common toromiro became rare and ultimately extinct in the wild in the 1960s. [2] Local tradition has it that the rongorongo tablets of Easter Island are made of toromiro. However, all tablets of native wood tested by modern methods have turned out to be Thespesia populnea , known as miro or milo in some Polynesian languages. [2] David Attenborough describes the timber from which a small wooden male sculpture in his possession is made, having been identified by Kew Gardens as Sophora toromiro. [3]
The tree is being reintroduced to the island in a scientific project partly led jointly by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Gothenburg Botanical Garden, where the only remaining plants of this species with a documented origin were propagated in the 1960s from seeds collected from a single tree by Thor Heyerdahl. It is sometimes claimed that all toromiro trees are derived from this single individual, but research has determined that at least one other tree's descendants survive. [4]
The Jardin du Val Rahmeh, a botanical garden in Menton in the south of France, is dedicated to the acclimatization and conservation of rare species, including Sophora toromiro.
Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the pea family Fabaceae. The species have a pantropical distribution. The generic name is derived from sophera, an Arabic name for a pea-flowered tree.
Thespesia populnea, commonly known as the portia tree, Pacific rosewood, Indian tulip tree, or milo, among other names, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is a tree found commonly on coasts around the world. Although it is confirmed to be native only to the Old World tropics, other authorities consider it to have a wider, possibly pantropical native distribution. It is thought to be an invasive species in Florida and Brazil.
Jubaea is a genus of palms with one species, Jubaea chilensis, commonly known in English as the Chilean wine palm or Chile cocopalm, and palma chilena in Spanish. It is native to southwestern South America and is endemic to a small area of central Chile between 32°S and 35°S in southern Coquimbo, Valparaíso, Santiago, O'Higgins, and northern Maule regions.
The Gothenburg Botanical Garden is located in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is one of the larger botanical gardens in Europe.
Rapa Nui National Park is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located on Easter Island, Chile. Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name of Easter Island; its Spanish name is Isla de Pascua. The island is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern extremity of the Polynesian Triangle. The island was taken over by Chile in 1888. Its fame and World Heritage status arise from the 887 extant stone statues known by the name "moai", whose creation is attributed to the early Rapa Nui people who inhabited the island starting between 300 and 1200 AD. Much of the island has been declared as Rapa Nui National Park which, on 22 March 1996, UNESCO designated a World Heritage Site under cultural criteria (i), (iii), & (v). Rapa Nui National Park is now under the administrative control of the Ma´u Henua Polynesian Indigenous Community, which is the first autonomous institute on the island. The indigenous Rapa Nui people have regained authority over their ancestral lands and are in charge of the management, preservation and protection of their patrimony. On the first of December 2017, the ex-President Michelle Bachelet returned ancestral lands in the form of the Rapa Nui National Park to the indigenous people. For the first time in history, the revenue generated by the National Park is invested in the island and used to conserve the natural heritage.
Brahea edulis, the Guadalupe palm or palma de Guadalupe, is a palm endemic to Guadalupe Island, Mexico, although a few stands have been planted elsewhere. It is a fan palm which grows 4.50 to 13 metres tall. It grows on the island between 400 and 1,000 metres above mean sea level (ASL), with this altitudinal zonation producing one of the few fog oases present in North America.
Hyophorbe amaricaulis is a species of palm tree of the order Arecales, family Arecaceae, subfamily Arecoideae, tribe Chamaedoreeae. It is found exclusively on the island of Mauritius, and only a single surviving specimen has been documented in the Curepipe Botanic Gardens in Curepipe. Thus, it is classified as an endling.
Naufraga balearica is an extremely rare species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, and the only species in the genus Naufraga. It is endemic to the Spanish island of Majorca, where it is found only at the base of cliffs at the north of the island near Pollença. A population was discovered on Corsica in 1981, but it had died out by 1983, and it is not clear whether it arrived naturally. Its natural habitats are Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation and rocky shores.
Anogramma ascensionis, the Ascension Island parsley fern, is a species of fern in the family Pteridaceae that is endemic to Ascension Island, a volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of eight putative species in the genus Anogramma. It was thought to have become extinct due to habitat loss, until four plants were found on the island in 2010. Over 60 specimens were then successfully cultivated at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and on Ascension Island. It is now classified as Critically Endangered.
Xylopia africana is a species of plant in the Annonaceae family. It is found in west-central Africa. It is restricted to submontane and lower montane forests. It is threatened due to habitat loss by clearance of forest. It was first described as Melodorum africanum in 1862 by George Bentham.
The Lost Gods of Easter Island is a BBC documentary written and presented by David Attenborough. It explores the history of the civilization of remote Easter Island. It was first transmitted in 2000 and is part of the Attenborough in Paradise and Other Personal Voyages collection of seven documentaries.
Echium pininana, commonly known as the tree echium, pine echium, giant viper's-bugloss, or tower of jewels, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae. It is endemic to the Canary Islands, where it is restricted to the island of La Palma. Echium pininana is an endangered species, and is listed in Appendix I to, and is therefore protected under, the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. The specific epithet pininana is Latin for "small pine", though E. pininana is neither closely related to the pine, nor does it resemble that plant.
The Jardin botanique exotique de Menton, also known as the Jardin botanique exotique du Val Rahmeh, is a botanical garden located off Avenue St Jacques, Menton, Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. It is open daily except Tuesday; an admission fee is charged.
The Botanische Garten der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg is an arboretum and botanical garden maintained by the University of Halle-Wittenberg. It is located at Am Kirchtor 3 in the city of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and open daily in the warmer months. An admission fee is charged.
Cornutia obovata is a rare species of tree in the mint family, and formerly considered a member of the verbena family. It is endemic to forested slopes in Puerto Rico, where its common names are capá jigüerilla, nigua, and palo de nigua. When it was added to the endangered species list of the United States in 1988 there were only seven individuals known to remain in the wild. By 1998 there were eight plants known. This is considered one population divided amongst a few locations in the mountain forests of the island.
Abutilon pitcairnense, the yellow fatu or yellow fautu, is a critically endangered perennial plant that is native to Pitcairn Island. It was once considered extinct, until a single plant was discovered on the island in 2003. At that time, cuttings and seed were used to propagate several plants at a nursery on the island and botanical gardens in Ireland and England. The last wild surviving plant died in a landslide in 2005, making the plant extinct in the wild.
Alastair Culham is an English botanist. He is a member of the staff of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading and Curator of the University of Reading Herbarium (RNG). He specialises in plant taxonomy, biosystematics and applications of techniques from molecular biology, phytogeography and phylogenetics. He focuses on broad-based research in biodiversity and taxonomy.
Tulipa sprengeri, or Sprenger's tulip, is a wild tulip from the Pontic coast of Turkey. It is quite rare and possibly extinct in the wild, but widely cultivated as an ornamental.
Dracaena umbraculifera is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. It is a tree that was only known from botanical gardens since the end of the 18th century, the original sample was labelled as originating from the island nation of Mauritius. It was declared to be extinct by the IUCN in 1997. This was clearly incorrect, as there are living specimens in botanical gardens around the world. Searches on Mauritius failed to find any trees, however, so it was thought that the IUCN probably should have more correctly assessed the species as 'extinct in the wild'. As such a team of researchers at the Missouri Botanical Garden decided to 'reintroduce' the species back to Mauritius in 2011, clones were propagated by cuttings and planted out in Mauritius in 2012.
Media related to Sophora toromiro at Wikimedia Commons
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