Endangered Plants

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Endangered Plants

• Warren

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Cucumber Tree
The Cucumber Tree (Dendrosicyos socotrana) is an
unusual vulnerable tree from the island of
Soqotra, Yemen. The species is very well
adapted to withstand drought conditions and
should therefore be better able than many species
to tolerate any drying out due to climate change.
However, in times of severe drought, trees are
cut-down, pulped and fed to livestock, and in
some areas this has resulted in its almost total
eradication. Declining habitat quality is also
preventing regeneration of the plant.
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Impatiens Letouzeyi
Impatiens letouzeyi is endemic to Cameroon. The
plant was described in 1981 from a single
specimen collected in the 1970s. It was
rediscovered by an Earthwatch team in 1998 and
subsequently found to be fairly common in the
Kodmin-Edip area. However, given its restricted
range, a planned reservoir scheme in the area may
threaten a major part of the population and the
species is currently assessed as Endangered.
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Alerce
The Alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) is confined to
southern Chile and Argentina and is listed as
Endangered. This is one of the largest trees in
temperate South America and has been heavily
logged since the end of the 16th century. The
species has been removed from nearly all lowland
sites, and at higher altitudes the trees are
often burnt and illegally logged. Present
estimates of the area occupied by the remaining
stands is 20,000 ha, 15 of their original extent
when Europeans arrived.
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St Helena Redwood
St Helena Redwood (Trochetiopsis erythroxylon) is
a tree endemic to St. Helena and is Extinct in
the Wild. After settlers arrived on the island,
the species was heavily exploited for its
excellent timber and bark which was used for
tanning hides. By 1718, the species was already
extremely rare. Further losses occurred when flax
plantations began in the late 1800s. By the mid
20th century, only one redwood survived and this
single tree is the source of all the Redwoods
known in cultivation today.
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Woods Cycad
Woods Cycad (Encephalartos woodii) is Extinct in
the Wild. Only a single plant of this species was
ever found. Its extinction may have been a
natural event, although the final end of the wild
population may have been hastened by
over-exploitation for medicinal purposes by local
people. In 1916 the last remaining stem was
removed for cultivation in botanical gardens.
There is no likelihood of ever reintroducing the
species back into the wild as there are only male
plants in existence, and the risk of theft would
be too great.
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Further Reading
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