Scots team saves rare plant for wild

THE only surviving specimens of one of the world's rarest plants have gone on display after cuttings taken from a Malaysian mountain by Scots scientists more than a decade ago flourished while the flower died out in its native habitat.

Horticulturalists from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) discovered the blood-red Rhododendron tuhanensis during an expedition to the slopes of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo in 1995.

They brought the samples back to the Scottish capital where they have grown into mature plants. A follow-up expedition to the mountain last year found no sign of the rare species and it is believed the specimens in Edinburgh are now the only ones left in existence.

It is feared that unusually high temperatures, caused in part by global warming, wiped out the fragile rhododendron on Kinabalu. But the Scots horticulturists hope they will be able to produce new plants, which can eventually be transported back to Borneo and reintroduced to the mountain from which they originated.

Dr David Mitchell, indoor curator at the RBGE, who was part of the original three-man expedition, described how the plant was discovered.

"An American botanist, Tod Barkman, mentioned in passing to us that he'd seen a plant which could be a rare species quite high up on the mountain near a landslide. We just felt there could be something there and couldn't settle.

"First thing in the morning on the very last day of our expedition my colleagues Dr George Argent, a world authority on vireya rhododendrons, and Paul Smith, a garden supervisor, sprinted about 3,000 metres up the mountain and took cuttings. That was to give the cuttings the best possible chance of survival."

The move to save the species comes at a time when nearly half the world's flora is under threat from changes to their ecosystem including pollution, global warming and the encroachment into their land for commercial development.

Dr Mitchell, who regards the rhododendron tuhanensis as an "ambassador" for all endangered plants, said the next step was to secure its future before returning further plants back to Mount Kinabalu and to botanic gardens in south-east Asia and around the world. This would mean having about half a dozen in at least seven or eight botanic gardens and at least 50-60 in south-east Asia.

Meanwhile the plant will go on display today at the palm house at the RBGE.

David Starck, president of the Scottish Rhododendron Society, said: "We're pleased to see this plant has been saved and look forward to news of its reintroduction into its natural habitat, which will take some time."