Rediscovery of "extinct" species on Mauritius spurs joint action
to secure its future 21 June 2001 | News story Gland,
Switzerland (IUCN) 21.06.01. The rediscovery of a Mauritian
plant last seen in the wild in 1863 has spurred collaborative
efforts on the island to help save the species. Trochetia
parviflora, a small, attractive tree found only on Mauritius,
was recently rediscovered by Vincent Florens and his colleague
Jean-Claude Sevathian during their third expedition to find the
species. Vincent is a member of the Indian Ocean Island Plant
Specialist Group, of IUCN's Species Survival Commission. The
pair found one plant clinging to a rocky slope in the Corps de
Garde Mountain Nature Reserve, some 6km from the nearest area in
which it was previously known. "We could not believe we had
found the species, it seemed too good to be true", said Vincent.
"We both knew the plant very well from old herbarium samples and
knew what it was immediately. The plant is exquisite with its
curvy trunk, dense branches, smal