Origin
South America
Light
Full sun
Watering
Weekly
Care
Easy
Flowering
Flowering
Outdoor
Café Marron
Declared extinct, rediscovered in 1979 by a schoolboy: one surviving shrub, the ancestor of every plant alive today.
Care Profile
A guide to ensuring your botanical companion thrives.
Origin
East Africa
Light
Full sun
Watering
Weekly
Maintenance
Expert
The last shrub on Rodrigues
Endemic to Rodrigues island, it had vanished from the records until a schoolboy, in 1979, recognised a shrub matching the drawing his teacher had handed out in class.
Cuttings went to Kew, where the plant flowered for years without ever setting fruit; more than two decades of trial and error passed before the first fertile seed was obtained.
"An entire species held in a single bush."
01
Styling Tip 01
Island warmth
A mild, bright, frost-free climate all year: it stalls as soon as temperatures stay low for long.
02
Styling Tip 02
Deceptive juvenile foliage
Young plants carry narrow, striped leaves quite unlike the adult ones: don't mistake them for signs of disease.
03
Styling Tip 03
Steady water, free drainage
A light substrate watered regularly but never waterlogged, with light feeding in spring.
Similar plants
More botanical treasures to discover.
Origin
South America
Light
Full sun
Watering
Rarely
Care
Easy
Flowering
Flowering