About the plant
Nesocodon mauritianus is endemic to the island of 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
Facts
- Saved from the brink of extinction
- Colourful nectar to appeal to pollinators
© Max Coleman/RBGE
Andrew McRobb © RBG Kew
© Harriet Maxwell
By Luke J. Harmon via Wikimedia Commons CC BY 2.5
On the brink
In the 1970s a single population of N. mauritianus was found growing on a waterfall cliff side. It had survived there because of consistent moisture trickling from above, and limited competition from other species.
Conservationists took cuttings from this population but had no luck in growing from the cuttings.
There was better luck in 1985, when an expedition secured 100 seeds, found in two unripe seed capsules, thereby saving this plant from the brink of extinction.
-
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