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Post by Melanie on Feb 11, 2007 20:11:53 GMT 1
Rare rhododendron to be unveiled The Rhododendron will be shown at the Gardening Scotland show
One of the world's rarest plants is to be unveiled at the Royal Botanic Garden (RBG) in Edinburgh.
Visitors to the glasshouses will be able to see a Malaysian rhodedendron, thought to be the only remaining example of the species in the world.
The plant is one of several threatened species held in the RBG living plants collection, which curators hope will help inspire Scottish gardeners.
The collection will also feature at the Gardening Scotland show in Ingliston.
David Mitchell, the RBG's indoor curator, said the RBG's mission was to "explore and explain" the world of plants.
Horticultural heritage
"This allows us to get people inspired about horticulture. What we really would like to do is to turn Scotland into a nation of gardeners, to be gardening the earth and looking after the earth.
"After all Scotland, has a long horticultural heritage," he said.
The RBG's exhibit at the Gardening Scotland show in June will be the biggest ever built by the organisation and Mitchell hopes it will help introduce its work to a new audience.
It is also hoped that the collection of threatened species from around the world will raise awareness about global warming.
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Post by Melanie on Feb 11, 2007 20:29:30 GMT 1
Scots team saves rare plant for wild SHÂN ROSS (sross@scotsman.com)
THE only surviving specimens of one of the world's rarest plants have gone on display after cuttings taken from a Malaysian mountain by Scots scientists more than a decade ago flourished while the flower died out in its native habitat.
Horticulturalists from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) discovered the blood-red Rhododendron tuhanensis during an expedition to the slopes of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo in 1995.
They brought the samples back to the Scottish capital where they have grown into mature plants. A follow-up expedition to the mountain last year found no sign of the rare species and it is believed the specimens in Edinburgh are now the only ones left in existence.
It is feared that unusually high temperatures, caused in part by global warming, wiped out the fragile rhododendron on Kinabalu. But the Scots horticulturists hope they will be able to produce new plants, which can eventually be transported back to Borneo and reintroduced to the mountain from which they originated.
Dr David Mitchell, indoor curator at the RBGE, who was part of the original three-man expedition, described how the plant was discovered.
"An American botanist, Tod Barkman, mentioned in passing to us that he'd seen a plant which could be a rare species quite high up on the mountain near a landslide. We just felt there could be something there and couldn't settle.
"First thing in the morning on the very last day of our expedition my colleagues Dr George Argent, a world authority on vireya rhododendrons, and Paul Smith, a garden supervisor, sprinted about 3,000 metres up the mountain and took cuttings. That was to give the cuttings the best possible chance of survival."
The move to save the species comes at a time when nearly half the world's flora is under threat from changes to their ecosystem including pollution, global warming and the encroachment into their land for commercial development.
Dr Mitchell, who regards the rhododendron tuhanensis as an "ambassador" for all endangered plants, said the next step was to secure its future before returning further plants back to Mount Kinabalu and to botanic gardens in south-east Asia and around the world. This would mean having about half a dozen in at least seven or eight botanic gardens and at least 50-60 in south-east Asia.
Meanwhile the plant will go on display today at the palm house at the RBGE.
David Starck, president of the Scottish Rhododendron Society, said: "We're pleased to see this plant has been saved and look forward to news of its reintroduction into its natural habitat, which will take some time."
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Post by Melanie on Feb 11, 2007 20:31:32 GMT 1
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Post by Melanie on Feb 11, 2007 20:32:33 GMT 1
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Post by Melanie on Apr 8, 2007 15:58:20 GMT 1
It was found in Kinabalu, Malaysia, probably the richest single site for the tropical vireya Rhododendrons. This area has probably been better explored for plants than anywhere else. And yet, just a few years ago, on Kinabalu an American botanist Todd Barkman was doing ecological work on the Serpentine flora, and he discovered in this very inhospitable, extremely steep and unstable area a rhododendron species. He really was not very sure what it was since it doesn't key out. Lo and behold, he was perfectly right. It was very small with thick leathery leaves with absolutely black stems growing in a miserable place on a landslip, usually enveloped in cloud and mist. It's an extraordinary species, and it's a brand new species, from Kinabalu, and only about 15 minutes climb (or scramble) off the main trail. Since much of this area is inaccessible, it is not know how wide spread the species is distributed.
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