Bracket Posted May 10, 2011 #1 Share Posted May 10, 2011 One day in 1895, while walking through the Ngoya Forest in Zululand, southern Africa, a botanist with the oh so suitable name of John Medley Wood caught sight of a tree. It sat on a steep slope at the edge of the woods and looked different from the other trees, with its thick multiple trunks and what seemed like a splay of palm fronds on top.From a distance it looked almost like a palm tree, and Doctor Wood — who made his living collecting rare plants (he directed a botanical garden in Durban) had some of the stems pulled up, removed, and sent one of them to London.Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor_Strangelove Posted May 10, 2011 #2 Share Posted May 10, 2011 This is the most depressing thing involving trees that I've ever read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karlis Posted May 10, 2011 #3 Share Posted May 10, 2011 This is the most depressing thing involving trees that I've ever read. ...and of humans, also... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Oku Posted May 12, 2011 #4 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I want to give it a hug... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithers Posted May 12, 2011 #5 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Wow... that IS sad... it would be really awesome if they found a female. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunji Posted May 12, 2011 #6 Share Posted May 12, 2011 never thought i'd feel bad for a tree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its Mii Posted May 12, 2011 #7 Share Posted May 12, 2011 That's so sad... I would marry that tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little_dreamer Posted May 12, 2011 #8 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Is cloning possible here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verneph Posted May 12, 2011 #9 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I feel so bad for it. Africa is a big place, though. It's not inconceivable that a female could still exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptozological Mascot Posted May 12, 2011 #10 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I want to build something out of it... even if I did a really crappy job (and I would), it would be worth lots of money! kidding... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philbo Posted May 12, 2011 #11 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Really good article..very sad for us to witness the last of a kind.Of course we are able to actually clone it and maybe hybridize it so it isn't lost to the world.Certainly the tree is blissfully unaware..but still Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadMaster04 Posted May 13, 2011 #12 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I count 3 of them in this pic ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkipuzzle Posted May 13, 2011 #13 Share Posted May 13, 2011 It's just a tree... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted May 13, 2011 #14 Share Posted May 13, 2011 It's just a tree... And without them, how far would humanity have got? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkipuzzle Posted May 13, 2011 #15 Share Posted May 13, 2011 As far as God would allow us too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bracket Posted May 13, 2011 Author #16 Share Posted May 13, 2011 As far as God would allow us too... Then why would God aloow stuff like this (not just trees but animals too) to happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verneph Posted May 13, 2011 #17 Share Posted May 13, 2011 (edited) As far as God would allow us too... "God" only allowed us to by creating the trees first to give us oxygen so we can, you know, breathe. Almost all religious texts (I don't know which ones you adhere to) say that God created everything, including plants and animals, before humans. I'm pretty sure if a God exists It cares a bit more about its creations than that. Show some respect for another form of life, especially one far older than any of us. Edited May 13, 2011 by Verneph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sakari Posted May 13, 2011 #18 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Being this is the only tree of its kind left in the world, and it is a male tree and needs a female to fertilise....I think it's name is rather insulting.... E. woodii Poor thing has had a woodii forever, and nothing to do with it...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted May 14, 2011 #19 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I have heard that the reason only a single male plant was found in the wild what that this plant is possibly a natural hybrid with E. natalensis and another Encephalartos species not identified. If so it is possible that there never was a female plant. There is hope that the plant can be tissue cultured and mass produced, however the clones would all be male. But in a few rare cases some cycads have reversed sex under extreme stress and with enough tissue cultured material it would be worth the risk to try this method to create a female. Or perhaps chemical manipulation in vitro could accomplish the same thing. The biggest problem may be that this could be a multi-generational human project as these plants grow very slowly and bloom only at great age. As to why and save some odd plant found only in some remote corner of Africa, it is the same reason the world would be diminished if there were no more tigers, no more rhinos, no more whales. They may not be directly useful to you as an individual, but they are part of God's creation and are a wonder to behold. True these trees aren't cute and fuzzy, I have a few Encephalartos species and they are mean and spiny, but each species is unique and part of the whole that makes up our world. Also sometimes rare plants can be propagated and mass produced and become quite useful, like the Ginkgo biloba which was nearly extinct in the wild and found only in a few monasteries in China. It is now a much grown street tree in temperate cities all over the world, and has been found to have medicinal properties which would never have been known had it been allowed to go extinct. For more info on cycads you can go to the Virtual Cycad Encyclopedia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habitat Posted May 14, 2011 #20 Share Posted May 14, 2011 It's just a tree... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana Maybe you'd like this one better......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkipuzzle Posted May 14, 2011 #21 Share Posted May 14, 2011 LOL. Araucaria is my favorite, actually. How'd ya know *kidding. God gave us the right to dominate over all other life. That's enough for me. The loss of one tree, which some think is the last of its kind, is not going to destroy us. Our sins will... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habitat Posted May 15, 2011 #22 Share Posted May 15, 2011 In the Sahara somewhere is a tree (Lebanese Cedar) which is the only plant for 300 miles, supposedly. It is an ancient tree which has managed to tap into a subterranean aquifer in the gorge in which it stands, the riverbed long since dried up nearby. That truly is a lonely tree, God knows how many centuries since a bird alighted in it's branches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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