After Tuesday’s post on the gutted Endangered Species Act, I’ve decided to make such depressing news a regular feature.  Every Thursday (or so) I’m going to feature a plant that’s gone extinct recently and tell you why.  No, I’m not trying to make you cry, but I do hope you’ll do something.

This week on Extinction Thursday, I’m featuring Anonidium usambarense.

Anonidium usambarense

This herbarium specimen is all that’s left of this Tanzanian species.  It probably went extinct due to agriculture and forestry in the region.

So, what can you do?  If there’s someone on your Christmas list that loves animals or someone who is hard to find a gift for, adopt a sea turtle, snowy owl, penguin, elephant, or one of 24 super cute vertebrates over at Defenders of Wildlife.  The money goes to advocacy and conservation efforts for those animals (and all the other critters and plants and places they rely on).