Nesiota elliptica
– Extinct
Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
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PLANTAE
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Phylum:
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TRACHEOPHYTA
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Class:
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MAGNOLIOPSIDA
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Order:
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RHAMNALES
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Family:
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RHAMNACEAE
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Scientific Name:
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Nesiota elliptica
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Species Authority:
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(Roxb.) Hook.f.
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Common Name/s:
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| English | — | OLIVE, ST HELENA OLIVE |
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Assessment Information
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Red List Category & Criteria:
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EX ver 3.1 (2001)
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Year Assessed:
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2004
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Assessor/s:
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Cairns-Wicks, R.
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Evaluator/s:
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Cronk, Q. & Clubbe, C. (South Atlantic Island Plants Red List Authority)
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Justification:
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The last known tree surviving in the wild died in 1994 and the only known plant still in cultivation died in December 2003. No other live material (plants, seeds or tissues) remains in local or international collections.
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History:
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| 1998 | - | Extinct in the Wild (Oldfield et al. 1998) |
| 2003 | - | Extinct in the Wild (IUCN 2003) |
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Geographic Range
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Range Description:
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Previously known from localised subpopulations on the highest parts of the eastern central ridge. N. elliptica became noticeably rare in the nineteenth century, when the subpopulation was recorded as consisting of only 12 to 15 trees on the northern side of Diana's Peak, after a time this subpopulation was thought to be extinct. In 1977 a single tree was discovered on a precipitous cliff near Diana's Peak, this was reported to have died in 1994. The last remaining plant in cultivation died in December 2003. The genus is monotypic.
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Countries:
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Regionally extinct:
Saint Helena
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Habitat and Ecology
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Habitat and Ecology:
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A small tree, that was known to be pollinated by an endemic syrphid fly, which also visits other endemic trees.
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System:
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Terrestrial
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Threats
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Threats:
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The threat to this species was loss of habitat through felling for timber and to make way for plantations.
N. elliptica also has a self-incompatibility mechanism (99% self-incompatible), making successful propagation difficult. Pests and systemic fungal infections that are carried through to seed are other threats that are affecting the survival of N. elliptica.
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Conservation Actions
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Conservation Actions:
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The Draft Recovery Action Plan for this species set out a number of objectives to encourage the long-term persistence of the Olive, these objectives were:
1. To maintain and encourage the growth of the Olive at Pounceys
2. To carry out pollinations when the tree is in flower
3. To establish seed in micropropagation at the RBG Kew
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