Extinct In The Wild, Bromus Bromoideus

Formerly found in Belgium, Luxembourg and France, it grew within fields of spelt wheat and was re-sown each year with the wheat seeds. It is the first extinct plant to be restored in British conservation history and "...thanks to the dedicated work of one extraordinary scientist, it has been saved, nurtured and returned to the wild... From the 1930s, as farmers sprayed pesticides and more and more weeds were screened out, it went into steep decline and was last seen, not far from where it was originally found, in 1972. Later, it was duly declared extinct." Philip Smith, a botanist, had a few seeds and grew them on his window sill and kept the species alive. Then, "its seed was safely stored in the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place, and Kew [Garden]'s Stewart Henchie began leading a team that intended to put the brome back into Britain. Kew started growing as much as it could, as did Paignton Zoo... Hundreds of plants germinated, flourished, and are now in fruit."