I know this is off topic, but that unusual calico is the one that was a tiny stray kitten in my garden before the neighbors took her in. Good to see her so big and healthy now!
Slightly different but I always loved the story of Franklinia. Bartram brought one back from the south, I forget where, and then the entire rest of the species was wiped out in a hurricane. Every garden Franklinia (named for Benjamin Franklin) is descended from that one Bartram brought north.
“John Bartram was appointed Royal Botanist for North America by King George III in 1765. In that same year, John Bartram and his son William discovered franklinia growing in a 2-3 acre tract along the banks of the Altamaha River in southeastern Georgia. Franklinia has never been observed growing in any other place than along the Altamaha River.“
“In a return trip in 1773, William Bartram collected seed from this site and brought it back to the Bartram’s garden in Philadelphia where the tree was successfully grown. This tree has been extinct in the wild since 1803.“
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It is not known why this tree disappeared in the wild. Land along the Altamaha River was cleared for cotton plantations leading to one theory that a cotton pathogen found in the soil (carried downstream through erosion) was the main cause of the extinction of the colony. Other extinction theories include decline from climate change, destruction by man, single colony of plants was not genetically diverse enough to withstand pathogens or changing conditions, or a local disaster (flood or fire).“
Wow that’s a story, but yeah it’s slightly different but a similarly appealing story even if it’s semisad. Extinct in wild plants like Chocolate Cosmos, [a species of cycad icr the name for], and even that resurrected palm tree seeds, those stories are amazing too!
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