Serianthes nelsonii

Taxobox
name = "Serianthes nelsonii"
status = CR
status_system = IUCN2.3


image_caption =
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Fabales
familia = Fabaceae
subfamilia = Mimosoideae
genus = "Serianthes"
species = "S. nelsonii"
binomial = "Serianthes nelsonii"
binomial_authority = Merrill
range_

"Serianthes nelsonii" Merr is a large tree endemic to Guam and Rota of the Mariana Islands. Only one mature tree exists on Guam, while 121 mature trees have been identified on Rota since 1984.

"S. nelsonii" was declared an endangered plant in 1987. The University of Guam began a program to save the plant in 1998 with the help of numerous other agencies. "S. nelsonii" seedlings are being raised on protected lands for transplantation back into the wilds of Guam. On Rota, the Department of Lands and Natural Resources is monitoring the plant population and growing seedlings in a plant nursery.

The tree is found in limestone forests in Rota and Guam. It has bipinnately compound leaves and brush-like flowers with long pinkish filaments. Seed pods contain one to seven smooth brown seeds.

There are three local names for "S. nelsonii". On Guam, it is known as hayun lågu, meaning "northern tree" or "foreign tree", referring to Rota, which is located north of Guam. The common name on Rota is trongkon guåfi, meaning "fire tree". Another name on Rota is trongkon fi'a may have originated in a region on Rota called Fia. Alternatively, "fi'a" may have derived from the Chamorro pronunciation of "fire", from "guåfi". The species was named "nelsonii" by E.D. Merrill in 1919 to honor Peter Nelson of the Guam Department of Agriculture, the discoverer of the plant.

References

* "Serianthes nelsonii", poster by Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Guam

External links

* [http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/wesa/serianthesnels.html "The Recovery Plan for the "Serianthes nelsonii"] , United States Fish and Wildlife Service (accessed 21 April 2007)