About the plant
All specimens of Dombeya mauritiana that exist are clones of two trees found on its native Mauritius.
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Not yet evaluated
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the world’s species. The ongoing mission is to evaluate every plant species in the world.
IUCN Red List Status:
Not yet evaluatedData deficientLeast concernNear threatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically endangeredExtinct in the wildExtinct -
Banked in the MSBSeeds from this plant have been banked in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, at Wakehurst in Sussex
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Facts
- Previously declared extinct in the wild
- Flowers thought to be pollinated by carrion flies
- Wood used as a building material
© Harriet Maxwell
© Harriet Maxwell
© Harriet Maxwell
By Bruno Navez via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Lone specimens
In 1976 a single specimen of D. mauritiana was found. By 1994 it had died and the species was declared extinct.
Luckily a few cuttings taken from the plant survived in cultivation.
In 2009 another wild survivor was reported. With a local team Kew’s horticulturists fought through guava thicket to reach it. They took cuttings and successfully propagated it at Kew.
-
Not yet evaluated
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the world’s species. The ongoing mission is to evaluate every plant species in the world.
IUCN Red List Status:
Not yet evaluatedData deficientLeast concernNear threatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically endangeredExtinct in the wildExtinct -
Banked in the MSBSeeds from this plant have been banked in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, at Wakehurst in Sussex
Click on icon to reveal more