Café marron

Ramosmania rodriguesii
'Ramosmania rodriguesii in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Rubiaceae
Genus:	Ramosmania Tirveng. & Verdc.
Species
Ramosmania heterophylla Ramosmania rodriguesii

Café marron or Ramosmania rodriguesii is native to the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean.

History

It was thought Ramosmania rodriguesii was extinct until a single surviving tree was spotted by a schoolboy in 1980, 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. Cuttings were taken to Kew Gardens, and although the plant regularly flowers, 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.^[1] Ramosmania rodriguesii is a Critically endangered plant species.

References

1. ^ Krulwich, Robert (2006-03-28). "The Little Coffee Plant that Wouldn't Die". National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5307047. Retrieved 2007-07-21. "This is the story of a wild coffee plant that disappeared. Almost. Called "cafe marron," it lived on one island, Rodrigues, in the middle of the Indian Ocean in what is now part of Mauritius. As plants go, it was nothing special. Its leaves were green, its height average (about 5 or 6 feet), its flower white, its existence ignorable. In 1877, a European visitor, passing through Rodrigues, made a drawing of it and that is the only image we had of this plant, because after that, goats and pigs began to multiply on Rodrigues, and the plant began to disappear. By mid-century, it was presumed to be extinct. ..." 

External links

• Café marron on National Public Radio
• Kew Gardens: Cafe marron