Extinct In the Wild - Yellow Fatu, Abutilon pitcairnense

2005 CE • Pitcairn Islands

Endemic to the Pitcairn Islands, a remote archipelago roughly halfway between Australia and South America, the Yellow Fatu was considered extinct until one plant was discovered on the island in 2003. Cuttings of the plant were successfully grown and it now can be found in botanical gardens. The timing of this collection turned out to be quite serendipitous, as a landsclide in 2005 buried the only known wild plant. The species is now considered extinct in the wild.

“Back from the Brink: 5 Plants That Almost Became Extinct | Kew.” Www.kew.org, www.kew.org/read-and-watch/plants-extinct-temperate-house. Accessed 6 Jan. 2022.

Abutilon pitcairnense, from Pitcairn Island, cultivated in a glasshouse of The Irish National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland.