Kingdom Plantae Family Rubiaceae Tribe Octotropideae Rank Species | Order Gentianales Subfamily Ixoroideae Genus Ramosmania | |
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Similar Trochetiopsis melanoxylon, Pelargonium appendiculatum, Polystachya, Rondeletia, Rodrigues fody | ||
Ramosmania rodriguesi (café marron) is a tree native to the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean.
History
It was thought Ramosmania rodriguesi was extinct until a single surviving tree was spotted by a schoolboy in 1979, who was shown a drawing of the plant by his teacher. The only image of the plant was made in 1877, by a European visitor, passing through Rodrigues. By the 1950s, it was presumed to be extinct. In the 1970s, a specimen was discovered; cuttings were taken to Kew Gardens, and although the plant regularly flowered, it never produced seed until horticulturists discovered how to pollinate the flowers.
In 2003 the café marron bore its first fruit with viable seeds. Slow but steady efforts have been made to grow more café marron trees and speed up the pollination process. Ramosmania rodriguesi is a Critically endangered plant species.