Plant thought to be extinct found in crater in Hawaii
[ad_1]
A rare plant thought to be extinct in the wild has been discovered in a crater in Hawaii.
A tiny population of Delissea argutidentata was discovered in March 2021, according to a joint press release Kamehameha Schools, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the nonprofit Three Mountains Alliance.
The release notes that three Delissa plants were found in the crater. The exact location where the extremely rare plants were discovered is being kept secret to protect the species. A protective fence was also installed for their safety.
Their seeds were extracted and 30 seedlings were grown from them in order to preserve the species.
Delissea argutidentata has a long, unbranched trunk that can reach 10 meters in height.
The plant was last seen in the area in the early 1970s. In 1992, a single plant was found, but it died in 2002. Since then, the plant has been considered extinct in the wild.
Colleen Cole, coordinator of the Three Mountain Alliance, an organization dedicated to watershed management in the Mauna Loa, Kilauea and Hualalai mountains, called the discovery of the three plants “an important message of hope.”
“In Hawaii, there is often a lot of focus on loss — the loss of species, forests, sacred sites — and maybe it’s human nature, but Delissea reminds us to always care and leave room for hope and discovery,” Cole said.
[ad_2]
Source link
