The team found the plants after following a trail of small white flowers characteristic of the species.
Rio de Janeiro:
A species of small holly tree last seen nearly two centuries ago and once feared extinct has been rediscovered clinging to life in an urban area of northeastern Brazil, scientists said Tuesday. The tree, ‘Ilex sapiiformis’, was found in the city of Igarassu, Pernambuco state, by an expedition that combed the region for six days in the hope of finding it, said the conservation group that backed the project, Re:wild, co . -founded by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio.
The tree, commonly known as the Pernambuco holly, was first documented in Western science by Scottish biologist George Gardner in 1838.
His collection was the only confirmed sighting – until March 22, when the new expedition found four of the trees on the bank of a small river in the town of Igarassu, just outside the capital Recife.
“It’s incredible that the Pernambuco holly was rediscovered in a metropolitan area home to nearly six million people,” Christina Biggs, Re:wild’s lost species program officer, said in a statement.
“We don’t often think of plants as being lost to science because they don’t move like animals, but they are just as integral to the ecosystems in which they originally occur.”
The team found the plants after following a trail of small white flowers characteristic of the species.
“It seemed like the world had stopped turning,” said expedition member Juliana Alencar.
“Nature surprises us. Finding a species that hasn’t been heard of for almost two centuries doesn’t happen every day. It was an incredible moment.”
The expedition leader, ecologist Gustavo Martinelli, said the group now hopes to start a breeding program for the tree.
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