About the plant
Trochetiopsis ebenus is endemic to St Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean.
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Critically endangered
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
- Dark maroon stamen
- Name ebony is derived from the hard, black wood
- Cut down for its hard wood
- Specimens today are low bushes
- Over-grazed by goats
- St Helena is a UK Overseas Territory
© Rebecca Cairns-Wicks
© Rebecca Hilgenhof/RBG Kew
Andrew McRobb © RBG Kew
Andrew McRobb © RBG Kew
Clinging on
Trochetiopsis ebenus was believed to be extinct for over 100 years, until two plants were spotted. They clung to a cliff face near the Asses Ears where they were out of reach of grazing animals.
A local guide called Charles Benjamin retrieved cuttings from one of these last wild specimens in 1980. Using a makeshift harness, he carried a stem back up the mountain between his teeth.
Many thousands of St Helena ebony plants have been propagated from these two survivors, and replanted on the island.
-
Critically endangered
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