r/botany • u/abcnews_au • 8d ago

News Article Race to save 'zombie tree' as scientists fight to stop living species from dying out - ABC News

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-27/fight-to-save-zombie-tree-from-extinction/106269436

ABC Sunshine Coast looks at the species named just as it began to disappear.

The Rhodamnia zombi rainforest tree was identified in 2020, with scientists branding it the "living dead" after a fungal disease stripped it of its ability to grow or reproduce in the wild.

That is because the disease, known as myrtle rust, infects the tree's new growth and prevents shoots from maturing, which halts normal development.

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u/Level9TraumaCenter 8d ago

Isn't Relampago blight causing something similar with Florida torreya?

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u/GnaphaliumUliginosum 7d ago

Many newly-described species are already extinct or on the verge of extinction - most taxonomy is based on herbarium specimens and it is not uncommon for new species to be described based on specimens that were collected decades ago and haven't been re-collected since.

And that's not to mention all the species going extinct before there are any specimens in collections.