I haven’t updated my series on the plants we’ve lost for a few weeks, but I’m back!  Cryosophila williamsii, also known as the Root-Spine Palm or the Lago Yojoa Palm, is a Honduran palm considered extinct in the wild.  Like Corypha taliera, the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s Center for Tropical Plan Conservation cares for the last living members of this species.  There may still be a small population or two near Lake Yojoa in Honduras, but even though they are (were?) within a forest preserve, there is little actual protection and deforestation and harvesting of palm hearts for medicinal purposes continues unabated.

Cryosophilia williamsii

Some of this palm’s close relatives are pollinated by beetles and it is thought that C. williamsii is too. I wonder what will happen to the beetle species that depend on this plant?

While the future for this palm does not look bright, there is good news for endangered species in the US. Shortly before leaving office, Bush gutted the Endangered Species Act.  Obama restored it last week!  Let him know that he’s moving in the right direction on the environment.