Critically-Endangered Tree Produces Flower; Report Says It's a Never-Before-Recorded Occurrence

What was considered a critically endangered tree in a Missouri greenhouse was recently reported to have produced a flower that had never been documented before, in the field of science.

The Good News Network reported that the botanists taking care of the tree believe that there is no question they can save the endangered tree since collecting pollen from this flower, as they can now cross-pollinate its thirty-strong sapling neighbors to repair genetic diversity.

Known as a member of the mint family, this tree species, Karoma gigas, is also related to other plants like oregano, thyme and rosemary.

Botany has it that this grows wild only in East Central Africa, Tanzania, and before, in Kenya. It is quite unknown there is no common name for the species in English, Swahili, or any other African language.

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The Flower Produced

The flower Karoma gigas, as described in the Global Trees Campaign site, produced had five purple petals pulled down towards the stem, and four long pollen stamens expanded from the center.

Growing straight up to 80-feet high, it is thought that one reason why there is no picture or illustration of the flower in the scientific documentation is that an adult Karoma gigas does not yield branches until halfway up to its trunk, so the quickly-wilting flowers easily arise quite high to be seen.

What's described as the flowers' un-minty nature led scientists to assume it could be considered a self-pollinating tree, with the hope of finding more flowers in the months ahead, that will enable them to strengthen the remaining trees' genetic diversity.

They can copy individual trees from cutting, although that does not do anything for the increase of genetic diversity, which is the key to guaranteeing the species' long-term survival, as well as the ability to resist disease.

Susceptibility to Fungus

In addition to growing in hard-to-reproduce kind of soil substrate comprising mainly of the old corral and termite remains, K. gigas is very susceptible to fungus, and its wood is similar to teak, not to mention, occasionally poached.

All this pressure makes this tree one of the most endangered of the over half a million known tree species today.

It was discovered in 1977 in Kenya, then rediscovered in 1993 in Tanzania after all the Kenyan tree specimens died out.

Aside from the 30 saplings that grow in the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, the Tanzanian Forest Service approximate there are two dozen or more other specimens, although only in what's described in the Coastal Forests site as Mitundumbea Forest Reserve and Litipo Forest Reserve in Tanzania, both of which were shielded area characterized by woodlands that were the originally the ocean floor.

Preserving the Species

According to Horticulture and Living Collections Senior Vice President Andrew Wyatt, from the Missouri Botanic Gardens, on one side of the coin, it is a bit scary as very rare species like the K. gigas are dependent upon humans and the latter cannot get wrong.

Personally, he added, and he knows others on his staff are feeling the same way, to be amazed and exhilarated, knowing that such a species is dependent on humans--an honor to use one's skills to be able to save species from getting extinct.

As for survival, Wyatt explained, it can actually be guaranteed the species does not go extinct. The notion of actually preserving it is totally possible. It is shielded in Tanzania and there are collections in the botanical garden.

Once there's enough seed, Wyatt and his team hopes they can be stored in a freezer and create a buffer between losses.

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