HIBISCADELPHUS WILDERIANUS
This flowering tree native to ancient
lava fields in Maui is believed to have
gone extinct between 1910 and 1913.
It’s part of a continuing biodiversity
loss that has wiped out nearly 11 per-
cent of Hawaii’s endemic plant taxa,
a 2019 study found.Ginkgo Bioworks also worked to
reconstruct the scent, and the
extinction story, of two other plants:ORBEXILUM STIPULATUM
The small flowering plant, commonly
known as Falls-of-the-Ohio scurfpea,
was presumed extinct in 1881. Like
the Hibiscadelphus tree in Maui, the
scurfpea was wiped out by develop-
ment: A river dam project flooded
its last known habitat in Kentucky.
Its flower’s re-created scent smelled
“citrusy and candy-like” to project
artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg.LEUCADENDRON GRANDIFLORUM
Commonly known as the Wynberg
conebush, the small white-flowered
plant is native to South Africa. After
its habitat was taken for vineyards,
it was last seen in 1806. Research for
Ginkgo’s project revealed two differ-
ent specimens labeled as Wynberg
conebush, throwing into doubt the
plant’s identification. What Tolaas
reconstructed smelled “deep and
tobacco-y” to Ginsberg. Meanwhile,
South African conservationists hope
to bring back the indigenous plant:
By safely burning part of the land
that once was conebush habitat, they
may unlock dormant seeds in the soil.PAGE
NO. 27THIS TREE LAST BLOOMED ON A
HAWAIIAN SLOPE MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO.
NOW SCIENTISTS HAVE RESURRECTED
ITS EXTINCT FRAGRANCE. TAKE A WHIFF!
SCRATCH AND SNIFF HERE
dried seed pod
with exposed seeds
flower
budstigmapistil