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Wood's Cycad

Conifers and Other Gymnosperms

Wood's cycad, Encephalartos woodii, is a cycad native to the Ngoye Forest of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, known from only a single wild clump of stems, all part of one male plant, discovered in 1895 and since removed to cultivation; no female plant has ever been found, and repeated searches of its native habitat have failed to locate another individual. Because it cannot reproduce sexually without a female, every cultivated Wood's cycad in botanical gardens worldwide today is a genetically identical clone propagated from that original plant, making it extinct in the wild despite surviving in cultivation.

Facts
Classification
System (Realm)
Terrestrial 1
Living or Extinct
No 2
Scientific Name
Encephalartos woodii 2
Conservation Status
Extinct in the Wild 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Encephalartos woodii
  • system (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
    Encephalartos woodii, Wood's cycad, is a rare cycad in the genus Encephalartos, and is endemic to the oNgoye Forest of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
  • Speciesbox infobox, conservation status parameter
    status = EW
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2. Wood's Cycad (Wikidata)
Wikidata
  • Wikidata Q1989057 (P225 taxon name)
  • Statements section, conservation status (P141)
    IUCN Red List conservation status (Wikidata property P141): extinct in the wild.
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