Tiny fern returns from extinction
9 July 2010
A tiny fern thought to have been extinct since the 1950s has been found alive and well by scientists growing on its native Ascension, in the South Atlantic.
Anogramma ascensionis measures just a few centimetres across and has delicate yellow-green leaves similar in appearance to parsley. The last sighting was in 1958 and it was presumed to have died out, probably because of competition from introduced maidenhair ferns (Adiantum spp).
However during a routine plant survey government conservationists on the island spotted a colony of just four Anogramma clinging to the side of the mountain. Spores from the ferns were collected and have now been germinated in a nursery on Ascension, with a further population raised at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It's hoped these can one day be returned to the island. Meanwhile further explorations around the site have revealed a second fragile colony of Anogramma growing nearby.
Anogramma is one of three plants endemic to Ascension Island which have become extinct: of the remaining seven, two are critically endangered and the rest are threatened.