Not Extinct After All! Unique St. Helena Boxwood Rediscovered

 

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Received 18 January, 1999 from Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh (External Web Links will open into a new browser window):

Unseen for over 100 years, the unique St Helena Boxwood (Mellissia begonifolia) has been rediscovered by local hiker Stedson Stroud, and taken for identification to St Helena's Conservation Officer, Dr Rebecca Cairns-Wicks.

The plant is from the same family (Solanaceae) which gives us potatoes, tomatoes and cape gooseberries. Using plant material sent from St Helena, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) will carry out extensive DNA studies to identify what, if any, important properties this rarity holds. It may contain genes useful in our future crops or even a source of life-saving medicine.

'It is a sad fact that the British island of St Helena has the world's most threatened flora with over 40% of its plants listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants, including the St Helena Boxwood which is listed as extinct.'

states Dr Quentin Cronk, RBGE Project Manager.

The 862-page IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants, published in 1998, is the first world list of threatened plants and reveals that one in eight plant species is facing extinction or already extinct.

'The Red List represents just the tip of the iceberg, with information still lacking for many regions, and the underlying database is constantly being updated. It is wonderful news that a plant previously thought to be extinct has been rediscovered, and to see immediate conservation action being taken. Removing a plant from the list of extinct species, instead of adding one, makes a welcome change. However, the future of the plant is still clearly very precarious, leaving it in the critically endangered category.'

says Harriet Gillett, World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) Threatened Plants Database Manager and co-editor of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.

Just one living St Helena Boxwood was found amongst six dead bushes on a sea-facing slope 100 metres above sea level. The plant is suffering from an attack of mealy bug and moth larvae and is unlikely to survive. It is indeed fortuitous then that the plant was rediscovered just in time while it was in flower and seeding, giving the chance for propagation material to be collected.

'So, now we wait in hope that the seeds germinate and the cuttings root as this is the only known plant, which could be easily lost to drought or pests. If this happens and propagation is unsuccessful then we will be calling the St Helena Boxwood extinct, this time forever.'

says Dr Rebecca Cairns-Wicks, St Helena Project Manager.