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Pennantia baylisiana
Pennantia baylisiana, commonly known as Three Kings kaikōmako or kaikōmako manawatāwhi (Māori), is a species of plant in the family Pennantiaceae (Icacinaceae in older classifications). It is endemic to Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, around 55 kilometres (34 mi) northwest of Cape Reinga, New Zealand. At the time of its discovery just one plant remained. This single tree grows on a scree slope inaccessible to browsing goats, and has been called "the world's loneliest tree". The species was discovered in 1945 by botanist Geoff Baylis and described in 1948, although it took decades before it was fully accepted as a distinct species of Pennantia. Although the only wild tree is female, it was successfully propagated from cuttings in the 1950s, one of which was induced to self-pollinate in 1985.
It is only found in the wild on Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, an island chain 55 kilometres (34 mi) north-west of the top of the North Island, on Great Island (Manawatāwhi). There is only one tree known in the wild; a female growing above a cliff on the northern face of Great Island. This tree has been called "the loneliest tree". The species has now been propagated by plantings in various garden locations in New Zealand, including Otari-Wilton's Bush, and around 200 saplings have been planted in Northland.
Pennantia corymbosa · Brown Beech · Pennantia endlicheri · Pennantia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pennantia baylisiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
