The Lost Garden: A Compendium of Rare and Endangered Plants

The Lost Garden A Compendium of Rare and Endangered Plants Some of nature's most beautiful, bizarre, and splendid treasures are in danger of being lost to the memory of time. Human expansion and pollution have contributed greatly to the endangerment and extinction of many species of plants and animals in the past. But in the current age, we have the power to preserve and undo the damage of our ancestors. Here's a selection of the plucky survivors we should all be fighting for! Endangered Plants Corpse flower (Rafflesia arnoldii) Grandidier's baobab Oahu stenogyne (Adansonia grandidieri) (Stenogyne kanehoana) Habitat: Habitat: Habitat: Endemic to a very small Endemic (meaning unique and not found elsewhere) to the island of Madagascar Endemic to the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra habitat – the Wai'anae Mountain Range on the island of Oahu in Hawaii Did You Know? It earned its nickname for the strong smell of rotting meat that open flowers use to attract flies and beetles for pollination. There is a whole group of plants called "carrion flowers" that follow this Did You Know? Madagascar is home to six out of nine of the known species Did You Know? It was presumed extinct in 1996, but six new plants were found in 2000. Cuttings have been taken from one of the last surviving specimens with of baobab. Grandidier's baobab is the largest, with trunks up to three meters across. It grows between 25 and 30 meters (82 and 98 feet) in height. Its seeds were once distributed by ancient primates and the now extinct "elephant bird,"the heaviest bird that ever existed. Its practice. It produces the largest individual flower on Earth, with a diameter of three feet. It produces no leaves, stems, or roots and has the ho of and rehabilitating it. It is in the mint family. no chlorophyll – until it flowers, it is impossible to greatest threat is the expansion of agricultural land into its native forests. detect. Ouachita Mountains goldenrod (Solidago ouachitensis) Baseball plant (Euphorbia obesa) Bois Dentelle (Elaeocarpus bojeri) Habitat: Habitat: Habitat: The petite yellow blossoms of Solidago ouachitensis are found only in the Ouachita Mountains, which lie on the The cloud forest of the island Indigenous to a range of arid land in Cape Province, South Africa of Mauritius Did You Know? Did You Know? This plant's nickname comes from its shape and the eight ridged spines that run along it, which resemble the seams of a baseball. A kind of cactus, it is prized for its decorative value – so prized, in fact, that its primary threat is poaching and over-collection. The border of Arkansas and There are only two known Bois Dentelle in existence, living as a pair on the island of Mauritius. The invasive Oklahoma. Did You Know? The Ouachita Mountains species in Mauritius's cloud forest threaten to totally destroy this plant's habitat. They produce beautiful white goldenrod is known as a "relict," which is defined as "a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon."The flower may have been more widespread centuries ago, in the last ice age, when flowers when in bloom. Some of their offspring are being cared for by the government of Mauritius in the hopes of restoring the population. plants have few seeds, and so the loss of so many native plants has left the indigenous population in danger. temperatures were cooler and the air was more humid. Now, the Quachita Mountains are the only area of its former empire that it can survive in. Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) Philip Island hibiscus (Hibiscus insularis) Arizona agave (Agave x arizonica) Habitat: Habitat: Habitat: Native to Chile and Argentina, on the lower slopes of the Hilltops, steep slopes, and near drainage areas in the Philip Island, an island just south of Norfolk Island, located off the cost of Andes Mountains Sonoran Desert of Arizona Australia Did You Know? Did You Know? The Arizona agave plant's history begins with an unlikely love story - it's a hybrid between the tiny Agave toumeyana and the stately Agave chrysantha. Its habitat is pretty much where its parents' habitats overlap. As a hybrid, it can be considered the first step on This is the national tree of Did You Know? Philip Island was once a Chile. The English nickname, "the Monkey Puzzle tree," supposedly comes from a conversation between British nobles, who said, "It would puzzle a monkey to climb that." In the same vein, it is sanctuary teeming with rare and exotic plant life. It remained uninhabited until it was founded as a penal colony by Great Britain around 1788. The settlers introduced pigs, goats, and rabbits that ravaged the local flora. Over time, these animals were removed or destroyed. Since then, local plants have been making a comeback. Philip Island hibiscus grows natively in only two "clumps" of flowers on the island. It has known as désespoir des singes (monkeys' despair) in France. It lives as long as 1,000 the road to evolution. It is years. Its greatest threats are invasive trees, overgrazing of domesticated animals, fires, and human logging. located in exceptionally difficult-to-reach areas, and its primary threats are grazing cattle. been planted elsewhere, but no native seedlings have been observed. Green pitcher plant (Sarracenia oreophila) Corpse lily (Amorphophallus titanum) Black bat flower (Tacca chantrieri) Habitat: Habitat: Habitat: As a carnivorous plant, you might expect it to be native to a rainforest of some kind, but Tropical areas of Southeast Asia like Malaysia, the Yunnan Province of China, and The rainforests and limestone hills of western Sumatra the green pitcher plant is actually native to northern Alabama, North Carolina, Thailand Did You Know? Like the Rafflesia, Titan Arum is a carrion flower, Its scientific Did You Know? This flower is, surprisingly, part of the yam family. It grows black flowers shaped like bat wings as well as whiskers that can grow up to 28 inches long. Georgia, and Tennessee. name means "misshapen giant phallus" in ancient Greek. It grows a large corm, or tuber, which is the largest known in the plant world. One of the largest ever weighed was 117 kilograms, or 258 pounds. Did You Know? Of all varieties of pitcher plant, the green pitcher plant is the most endangered. It grows to a height of 75 centimeters, with a pitcher "mouth" about 8 centimeters in circumference. Digestive acid wells at the bottom of the pitcher. Insects are lured to the edge and then slide down to the bottom when they creep too far in. They are threatened by collectors interested in exotic plants and human settlement expansion. Flower of the Holy Spirit (Peristeria elata) Hot Lips Turquoise jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) (Psychotria elata) Habitat: Habitat: Habitat: Native to the tropical forests of the Philippines Columbia, Costa Rica, and Historically, this flower grew in abundance in the mountain Panama forests of Panama. Did You Know? Did You Know? Did You Know? Unfortunately, this flower's beauty has led to it being over-picked. When harvesting was restricted, the flower became the object of an illegal trafficking ring. It may be grown in many places, but in its native home, it is considered endangered. The destruction of the This flower's unusual Philippine rainforests is the main threat to the turquoise jade vine. Its rather large flowers are pollinated by bats and birds in the wild. appearance makes it a prize for collectors, and the destruction of its natural habitat is making it rarer by the day. The "lips" of the plant are actually a part of the plant called the "bract," which opens when the flower blooms to reveal myriad tiny flowers underneath. Imagining Long-Extinct Plants The long-extinct plants of ages past, before humans walked the Earth, are only known by their fossil records. We'll never really know what they looked like, but we can imagine, just like we've done with the dinosaurs! Sigillaria (Late Carboniferous to early Permian) Araucarioxylon arizonicum or Rainbow Wood (Extinct about 200 million years ago) Glossopteris Fact Fact Fact This gigantic plant was spore-bearing and grew up to These trees are speculated to have grown as high as 60 meters (200 feet) in the area that is now Arizona. They grew in a tremendous forest that is now known as Petrified This was a widespread and gigantic seed fern that, in fossilization, became a large percentage of the Permian coal deposits that now exist in the Southern Hemisphere. It 30 meters tall. It's related to club mosses and quillworts of the present day. There was no wood in it - it was composed of leaves and a pith-filled Forest National Park. The grew to 30 meters (98 feet) in height. The variation and spread of different species encouraged support of the theory of continental drift. trunk. trunks are so abundant that locals have used them as building materials. Their colors come from iron oxide, limonite, hematite, and quartz. Sources: http://save-the-endangered-species.weebly.com/top-10-most-endangered-plants.html http://www.tentree.com/blog/ten-fascinating-extinct-trees/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_plants http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2008/11/03/strange-rare-bizarre-endangered-flowers-plants-and-trees/ https://en.wikipedia.org http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/collection/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=44 http://knowledgeiswonderful.blogspot.com/2011/04/bois-dentelle-two-lonely-trees-on-hill.html http://www.gardenguides.com/87019-critically-endangered-plants.html http://boingboing.net/2015/02/26/40-of-the-worlds-weirdest-fl.html AvasFlowers Better Flowers Lower Prices