About the plant
Nesiota elliptica, the St Helena olive tree, is extinct. It was an island endemic native to St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
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Extinct
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
Facts
- Stout shrubby tree
- Last surviving specimen died in 2003
- DNA is stored in Kew’s DNA bank
- St Helena is a UK Overseas Territory
© Rebecca Cairns-Wicks
© Rebecca Cairns-Wicks
© Rebecca Cairns-Wicks
© Rebecca Cairns-Wicks
Gone but not forgotten
Kew and local conservationists collected cuttings from the last known wild plant before it died in 1994.
In 2003 the last surviving individual in cultivation succumbed to a devastating termite attack and fungal infections.
No living material could be salvaged, but sample of its genetic material (DNA) was collected for storage in Kew’s DNA bank. Fortunately, this precious resource is still available for research.
Nesiota elliptica is the only species in the genus Nesiota, so that the genus also disappeared with the extinction of the species in 2003.
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Extinct
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