Endangered Endemic Fauna and Flora of the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Endangered Endemic Fauna and Flora of the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius THE MASCARENE ISLANDS BIOMES AND ECOSYSTEMS Endangered Endemic Fauna and Flora of the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius Dr. R. Venkatasamy Consultant EnviroSolutions Ltd Mauritius Summary: Oceanic islands ecosystems are unique in that most islands remained uninhabited for a long time, and fauna and flora species evolved undisturbed and very differently from continental species. However, the advent of human settlements and introduction of exotic species quickly caused irreparable damage to fragile island ecosystems, leading to the extinction of many interesting and rare species, as has been the case with endemic fauna and flora species that existed on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. The Mascarene Islands and Island Ecosystems The Mascarene group of Islands form a distinct eco region which contains habitats and species that differ from their assigned biome. Originally, these islands were covered with tropical moist broadleaf forests, habitat to a diverse range of fauna and flora. The common transition included coastal wetlands and swamp forests near seacoasts, windward rain forest, leeward lowland dry forest, to palm savannas, montane deciduous forests, and sometimes montane heathlands on high peaks. Figure1: The Mascarene Islands Prior to the coming of settlers, these islands were home to many unique endemic plants and animals, assumed to be originally derived from nearby Madagascar and the East African coastal countries. However, these islands have never been connected to either Madagascar or mainland Africa. Consequently, one different theory is that the flora and fauna of the Mascarenes must have either arrived from over the sea, or used other islands of the original Mascarene Plateau, now disappeared under the sea, as 'stepping stones' to hop from one land mass to another. The uniqueness of the Mascarene islands is in that they form systems in which biological diversity varies as a consequence of remoteness and size, but not necessarily because of environmental factors. On the whole, they are generally simpler systems than conventional continental ecosystems and biomes. Islands may thus provide an opportunity to determine how island biological diversity may affect ecosystem functions. Islands have been known to present two specific paradoxes: • Diversity, and • Stability. 1 Although being highly species-poor, existing species have represented considerable biological interest in terms of unusual endemic genera and taxonomically isolated groups. They have enjoyed stability, as they have persisted for millions of years through whatever adverse or extreme climatic events they may have had to face. However, once exposed to extrinsic (anthropogenic) disturbances, they quickly lose that stability. These apparent paradoxes are resolved when it is realized that all these features are consequences of the same island characteristics: • Biotic isolation, and • Oceanicity. As a result of these two characteristics, island systems are quantitatively and qualitatively different from continental systems in the nature of their ecological processes, which appear to give rise to an interspersed equilibrium model of evolutionary change. Rare and unique island endemics may be either the remnants of ancient continental endemics displaying prolonged stasis and persistence, or products of adaptation and evolution of localised species representing a series of rapid but irreversible events. A process-based definition of a relict endemic (palaeoendemic) is one whose founding lineage (i.e. the original continental source taxon) having left no descendents on the continent of origin, or the continental lineage may have evolved into totally different forms. The time of separation between an island endemic and its continental sister-group should predate the colonization of the island by the now endemic lineage. These island relict endemics are important representatives of remnants of the last segments of biodiversity that have vanished from continental ecosystems. For island conservation strategies to be successful, an integrated understanding of both sides of the diversity and stability paradox needs to be understood and appreciated so that both island processes and island organisms can be conserved. Oceans of the world have isolated volcanic islands, generally formed from hotspot activities underlying the ocean’s crust. The character of the terrestrial biota of these islands cannot be dependant on the ocean, but rather on whichever source continent has ultimately been responsible for providing the colonists. The African continent provides a good example, as it is surrounded by many small islands, including Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues, forming part of the Mascarenes. These islands may have sampled the African biota from different geological times, preserved it, and re-invented some through normal processes of evolution. Each island has its particular biota due to age, size, geographical isolation and such other factors as climate and exposure. A number of factors have to be considered when examining island ecosystems, including: • Components responsible for biological diversity on islands and their patterns of variation, • Threats and risks in maintaining such biological diversity, • Intricacies of island biology and consequences of modifications by men over ecosystem functions, • The global necessity for islands biodiversity studies in conservation, and • How we can learn from islands in understanding the processes that induce changes on continental ecosystems. It is known that introduced (exotic) species have better chances of survival on island environments than on mainland areas, and have been shown to have greater negative impacts there, since island ecosystems are known to be fragile, and island species weak. Island species have been termed, wrongly or rightly, “backwaters and deadends,” whereas island ecosystems 2 are seen as presenting less “biotic resistance” to invaders or introduced exotic species than do continental ecosystems. However, genetic weaknesses in island species, if any, are debatable. Island endemic species have evolved in isolation, and it is expected that natural selection would have adapted them better to their environment than invasive or introduced species. But that has not been the case. The percentage of introduced species (not to be confused with invasion) has always been higher on isolated, uninhabited islands than on continental masses,. Many islands have been regarded as ideal environments for the introduction of exotic species, partly to enrich the less dense populations of endemic species, or to provide sources of sustenance for settlers. Though island species are not basically unadaptative weaklings, there exist an aspect of island biota that predisposes them to be particularly susceptible to introduced species, especially predators of the aggressive, competing and scavenging types, since most island environments have lacked such predators. As a consequence, native species evolved without any need to fend off predators, or develop specific defensive or aggressive strategies. The absence of such characteristics, not necessarily their weaknesses, was often the cause for their decimation and rapid extinction. Another factor that predisposes island native communities to be vulnerable lies in the fact that islands have smaller surface areas than continents, and it is unlikely that space occupied by native species would have enough room for introduced species that will compete for food, nesting spaces, and territories. Other factors that have also contributed to the disappearance of native species include hurricanes, fire, and sometimes, changes in climatic conditions. But species lost through these agents must have been few. The dodos of Mauritius must have survived innumerable hurricanes and other factors adverse to life, but only disappeared when human colonisers, together with exotic species and predators, landed on the island. There is ample evidence that species extinction inexorably followed the advent of human colonisation of islands, and that is well documented. The disappearance of the Dodo on the island of Mauritius, and the rapid extinction of the Moa bird in New Zealand are two of the many instances where human colonisation has led to rapid disappearance of fauna and flora on islands. Several reasons have been attributed to this human-induced extinction: • Human colonisers/settlers were more interested in valuable timber species, clearfelling large areas, at the same time destroying habitats of native endemic species. • Settlers on newly colonised islands soon started clearing forests and shrubland for agricultural purposes, further destroying habitats. • Settlers brought with them domestic animals, some of them known predators, and farm animals, and both further engaged into habitat destruction and species reductions. • Settlers introduced new exotic species that may have been useful to them in several ways, but increasing competition with and aggression to native species. • Settlers themselves turned into predators, hunting local species for food, skins, plumage, or for exportation. The Island of Mauritius Location The island of Mauritius lies about 800 kilometres East of Madagascar between longitudes 57 18' and 57 49' East, and latitudes 19 59' and 20 32' South. It is sixty-one kilometres long and forty- six kilometres wide at the extremes and has a total land area of some 1,865 square kilometres. 3 Figure 2: Mauritius - Location Mauritius is believed to be the oldest of the Mascarene Islands
Recommended publications
  • Admixture and Sexual Bias in the Population Settlement of La
    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 136:100–107 (2008) Admixture and Sexual Bias in the Population Settlement of La Re´ union Island (Indian Ocean) Gemma Berniell-Lee,1 Ste´ phanie Plaza,2 Elena Bosch,1,3 Francesc Calafell,1,3 Eric Jourdan,4 Maya Ce´ sari,5 Ge´ rard Lefranc,6 and David Comas1,3* 1Unitat de Biologia Evolutiva, Departament de Cie`ncies Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain 2Servei de Geno`mica., Departament de Cie`ncies Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain 3CIBER Epidemiologı´a y Salud Pu´ blica (CIBERESP), Spain 4De´partement d’He´matologie Clinique et Oncologie Me´dicale, Groupe Hospitalo-Universitaire Caremeau, 30029 Nıˆmes, France 5UFR de Biologie, Universite´ de La Re´union, 97715 Saint-Denis, Messag. Cedex 9 – Re´union, France DOM 6Institut de Ge´ne´tique Humaine, UPR CNRS 1142, et Universite´ Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France KEY WORDS mixed ancestry; asymmetrical gene flow; mtDNA; Y chromosome; founder effects ABSTRACT La Re´union, one of the three Mascarene further 18 STRs and 35 SNPs on the Y chromosome in islands located in the Indian Ocean, remained devoid of 26 of these samples. Our results show that there was a inhabitants until it was first colonized by the French in strong sexual bias (asymmetrical gene flow) in the peo- the middle of the 17th century. The continuous flow of pling of La Re´union, where admixture events were foreign-born slaves and immigrant workers from Africa, mainly between male settlers and females from the India, Southeast Asia, and China to work on coffee and incoming slave groups.
    [Show full text]
  • Looters Vs. Traitors: the Muqawama (“Resistance”) Narrative, and Its Detractors, in Contemporary Mauritania Elemine Ould Mohamed Baba and Francisco Freire
    Looters vs. Traitors: The Muqawama (“Resistance”) Narrative, and its Detractors, in Contemporary Mauritania Elemine Ould Mohamed Baba and Francisco Freire Abstract: Since 2012, when broadcasting licenses were granted to various private television and radio stations in Mauritania, the controversy around the Battle of Um Tounsi (and Mauritania’s colonial past more generally) has grown substantially. One of the results of this unprecedented level of media freedom has been the prop- agation of views defending the Mauritanian resistance (muqawama in Arabic) to French colonization. On the one hand, verbal and written accounts have emerged which paint certain groups and actors as French colonial power sympathizers. At the same time, various online publications have responded by seriously questioning the very existence of a structured resistance to colonization. This article, drawing pre- dominantly on local sources, highlights the importance of this controversy in study- ing the western Saharan region social model and its contemporary uses. African Studies Review, Volume 63, Number 2 (June 2020), pp. 258– 280 Elemine Ould Mohamed Baba is Professor of History and Sociolinguistics at the University of Nouakchott, Mauritania (Ph.D. University of Provence (Aix- Marseille I); Fulbright Scholar resident at Northwestern University 2012–2013), and a Senior Research Consultant at the CAPSAHARA project (ERC-2016- StG-716467). E-mail: [email protected] Francisco Freire is an Anthropologist (Ph.D. Universidade Nova de Lisboa 2009) at CRIA–NOVA FCSH (Lisbon, Portugal). He is the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council funded project CAPSAHARA: Critical Approaches to Politics, Social Activism and Islamic Militancy in the Western Saharan Region (ERC-2016-StG-716467).
    [Show full text]
  • Responsáveis Políticos Pelo Império Colonial Português
    Série Documentos de Trabalho Working Papers Series Responsáveis políticos pelo Império Colonial Português Nuno Valério DT/WP nº 72 ISSN 2183-1807 Apoio: Estudos de história colonial Responsáveis políticos pelo Império Colonial Português Responsáveis políticos pelo Império Colonial Português Nuno Valério (GHES — CSG — ISEG) Resumo Este documento de trabalho apresenta listas dos responsáveis políticos pelo Império Colonial Português: Reis, Regentes e Presidentes da República de Portugal, membros do Governo e governadores dos domínios, províncias, colónias e estados. Abstract This working paper presents lists of the political officials that were responsible for the Portuguese Colonial Empire: kings, regents and Presidents of Republic of Portugal, members of the government and governors of possessions, provinces, colonies and states. Palavras-chave Portugal — responsáveis políticos — Império Colonial Keywords Portugal — political officials — Colonial Empire Classificação JEL / JEL classification N4 governo, direito e regulação — government, law and regulation 1 Estudos de história colonial Responsáveis políticos pelo Império Colonial Português Plano Reis e Regentes de Portugal 1143-1910 Presidentes da República de Portugal desde 1910 Secretários de Estado da Marinha e Domínios Ultramarinos 1736-1834 Secretários de Estado da Marinha e Domínios Ultramarinos da regência constitucional 1830- 1834 Governos e Ministros e Secretários de Estado encarregados dos assuntos ultramarinos 1834-1976 Governadores do Estado da Índia 1505-1961 Governadores
    [Show full text]
  • A Construçao Do Conhecimento
    MAPAS E ICONOGRAFIA DOS SÉCS. XVI E XVII 1369 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] Apêndices A armada de António de Abreu reconhece as ilhas de Amboino e Banda, 1511 Francisco Serrão reconhece Ternate (Molucas do Norte), 1511 Primeiras missões portuguesas ao Sião e a Pegu, 1. Cronologias 1511-1512 Jorge Álvares atinge o estuário do “rio das Pérolas” a bordo de um junco chinês, Junho I. Cronologia essencial da corrida de 1513 dos europeus para o Extremo Vasco Núñez de Balboa chega ao Oceano Oriente, 1474-1641 Pacífico, Setembro de 1513 As acções associadas de modo directo à Os portugueses reconhecem as costas do China a sombreado. Guangdong, 1514 Afonso de Albuquerque impõe a soberania Paolo Toscanelli propõe a Portugal plano para portuguesa em Ormuz e domina o Golfo atingir o Japão e a China pelo Ocidente, 1574 Pérsico, 1515 Diogo Cão navega para além do cabo de Santa Os portugueses começam a frequentar Solor e Maria (13º 23’ lat. S) e crê encontrar-se às Timor, 1515 portas do Índico, 1482-1484 Missão de Fernão Peres de Andrade a Pêro da Covilhã parte para a Índia via Cantão, levando a embaixada de Tomé Pires Alexandria para saber das rotas e locais de à China, 1517 comércio do Índico, 1487 Fracasso da embaixada de Tomé Pires; os Bartolomeu Dias dobra o cabo da Boa portugueses são proibidos de frequentar os Esperança, 1488 portos chineses; estabelecimento do comércio Cristóvão Colombo atinge as Antilhas e crê luso ilícito no Fujian e Zhejiang, 1521 encontrar-se nos confins
    [Show full text]
  • Phylogeny of Trochetia Species Based on Morphological and Molecular Markers
    UIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS RESEARCH JOURAL – Volume 15 – 2009 University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius Phylogeny of Trochetia species based on morphological and molecular markers K. Poorun Mauritius V. M. Ranghoo-Sanmukhiya* Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius Email: [email protected] Paper Accepted on 27 October 2009 Abstract Trochetia is a genus of six species out of which five are endemic to Mauritius. Its taxonomic classification has been changed from the Sterculiaceae family to the Malvaceae recently. Molecular and morphological characterization was carried out for the five Trochetia species as a means to conserve endangered Trochetia species and to understand their genetic diversity. Hibiscus genevii and Dombeya mauritiana were also included in the study as outgroups to infer the phylogeny of Trochetia . A modified protocol was used for DNA extraction using CTAB. Morphological characterization was based on both quantitative and qualitative traits. Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was used for assessing genetic diversity of Trochetia species. High levels of polymorphism were noted among the Trochetia species using RAPD markers. Both molecular and morphological data were cladistically analyzed using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA) based on Jaccard’s coefficient. Cluster analysis revealed two different phylogenies of Trochetia for the two different markers used. T. triflora was found to have more similar features to D. mauritiana as compared to its congeneric species, as evident from the dendogram based on morphological characters. Out of the twenty nine morphological characters used, T. triflora bears four characters similar to D. mauritiana as compared to the other Trochetia species. Moreover, both T.
    [Show full text]
  • Neighbors Gone, Fruits Gone, Species Gone 19 March 2007
    Neighbors gone, fruits gone, species gone 19 March 2007 In an experiment carried out in 2003 and 2004 and reported in the April issue of the American Naturalist, Hansen and coworkers could show that Trochetia plants growing close to Pandanus patches had a higher chance of being pollinated and produce fruit than plants further away. Thus, Trochetia enters an indirect dependency with its neighbor Pandanus via the geckos. "The case of Trochetia and its pollinator is only one of many examples of the complexity and fragility of island community interactions. When an island ecosystem is altered by humans, the outcome for both plants and animals are hard to predict. We need field experiments such as this one to understand the potentially disastrous effects," says Christine Müller. "There has been a long tradition of studying direct interactions in pollination biology," says Dennis Hansen, "but only little focus on indirect interactions, even though they often have Phelsuma cepediana visiting a Trochetia flower for large effects. Our study illustrates how important it nectar. Photograph by Dennis Hansen is to know as much as possible about the community-level interactions of an endangered species before deciding on conservation management. Who would have thought that to Neighbors gone, sex gone, fruits gone, species conserve Trochetia blackburniana we would end up gone. This is the ultra-short conclusion of the saying 'plant more patches of Pandanus'?" findings in a study by Dennis Hansen, Heine Kiesbüy, and Christine Müller from Zurich Citation: Dennis M. Hansen, Heine C. Kiesbüy, Carl University, and Carl Jones from the Mauritian G.
    [Show full text]
  • Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Three Ways to Be Alien: Travails and Encounters in the Early Modern World
    three ways to be alien Travails & Encounters in the Early Modern World Sanjay Subrahmanyam Subrahmanyam_coverfront7.indd 1 2/9/11 9:28:33 AM Three Ways to Be Alien • The Menahem Stern Jerusalem Lectures Sponsored by the Historical Society of Israel and published for Brandeis University Press by University Press of New England Editorial Board: Prof. Yosef Kaplan, Senior Editor, Department of the History of the Jewish People, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, former Chairman of the Historical Society of Israel Prof. Michael Heyd, Department of History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, former Chairman of the Historical Society of Israel Prof. Shulamit Shahar, professor emeritus, Department of History, Tel-Aviv University, member of the Board of Directors of the Historical Society of Israel For a complete list of books in this series, please visit www.upne.com Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Three Ways to Be Alien: Travails and Encounters in the Early Modern World Jürgen Kocka, Civil Society and Dictatorship in Modern German History Heinz Schilling, Early Modern European Civilization and Its Political and Cultural Dynamism Brian Stock, Ethics through Literature: Ascetic and Aesthetic Reading in Western Culture Fergus Millar, The Roman Republic in Political Thought Peter Brown, Poverty and Leadership in the Later Roman Empire Anthony D. Smith, The Nation in History: Historiographical Debates about Ethnicity and Nationalism Carlo Ginzburg, History Rhetoric, and Proof Three Ways to Be Alien Travails & Encounters • in the Early Modern World Sanjay Subrahmanyam Brandeis The University Menahem Press Stern Jerusalem Lectures Historical Society of Israel Brandeis University Press Waltham, Massachusetts For Ashok Yeshwant Kotwal Brandeis University Press / Historical Society of Israel An imprint of University Press of New England www.upne.com © 2011 Historical Society of Israel All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designed and typeset in Arno Pro by Michelle Grald University Press of New England is a member of the Green Press Initiative.
    [Show full text]
  • Alphabetique Des Sujets
    CONTENTS FOREWORD ................................................................................................................. 2 SUBJECT ALPHABETICAL INDEX ..................................................................................... 3 Geographical divisions .............................................................................................................. 47 Formal divisions ........................................................................................................................ 53 SUBJECT SYSTEMATIC CLASSIFICATION ....................................................................... 55 General works ........................................................................................................................... 56 Philosophy and psychology ....................................................................................................... 57 Religion ..................................................................................................................................... 58 Social sciences ......................................................................................................................... 59 Politics ...................................................................................................................................... 60 Economics ................................................................................................................................ 62 Law ..........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Ocean Drilling Program Initial Reports Volume
    Backman, J., Duncan, R. A., et al., 1988 Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Initial Reports, Vol. 115 1. INTRODUCTION1 Shipboard Scientific Party2 Leg 115 is the first of a nine-leg program of exploration of these volcanic islands and submarine (presumed volcanic) ridges the Indian Ocean. Previous drilling by the Deep Sea Drilling is consistent with northward motion of the Indian plate, fol- Program (DSDP), Legs 22 through 29 (1972-73), resulted in the lowed by northeastward motion of the African plate, over a first detailed information about the geologic and Oceanographic fixed melting anomaly at the location of Reunion during Ter- history of this major region of the oceans. Compared with the tiary time (Morgan, 1981; Duncan, 1981). In addition, this vol- Atlantic and Pacific Ocean Basins, however, the Indian Ocean is canic trail is parallel with the Ninetyeast Ridge, another subma- still relatively unexplored. During this multifaceted investiga- rine lineament linked to hotspot activity (now centered near the tion, we hoped to examine many fundamental questions. The Kerguelen Islands, Antarctic plate), and the two may record the scientific objectives of this leg fell into two main subject areas: northward motion of India during the opening of the Indian hotspot volcanism and paleoceanography. Ocean. Until Leg 115, however, the only accessible sampling loca- HOTSPOTS AND PLATE TECTONICS tions along the proposed Reunion hotspot track were the young An extraordinary feature of the Indian Ocean is the large volcanic islands at the southern end and the Deccan flood ba- number of elevated plateaus and ridges scattered throughout the salts at the northern end.
    [Show full text]
  • The Haratin and the Mauritanian Roadmap to Combat Slavery
    A Roadmap To Where? The Haratin and the Mauritanian Roadmap to Combat Slavery UNREPRESENTED NATIONS AND PEOPLES WORKSHOP LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL PORTLAND, OREGON Disclaimer This report is not intended to be legal advice to any person or entity. The report is a scholarly analysis of the legal issues involved in the report prepared by law students studying law at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. The authors are not licensed to practice law in the United States or any other country. Any person or entity who reads the report should consult his or her own legal counsel for legal advice. A ROADMAP TO WHERE? The Haratin and the Mauritanian Roadmap to Combat the Aftermath of Slavery Editors: Shannon Garcia Samantha MacBeth Contributors: Aaron Baxter Shannon Garcia Christina Gonzalez Samantha MacBeth George MacDonald Jason (Jong Sun) Park Annie Szvetecz Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Workshop Lewis & Clark Law School, 2014 Table of Contents Preface............................................................................................................................................. v Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... vi Map of Mauritania ........................................................................................................................ vii SOCIALLY CHAINED BY THE “CONSEQUENCES” OF SLAVERY ..................................... 1 History of Mauritania.................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • A New Species and Hybrid in the St Helen a Endemic Genus Trochetiopsis
    EDINB. 1. BOT. 52 (2): 205-213 (1995) 205 A NEW SPECIES AND HYBRID IN THE ST HELEN A ENDEMIC GENUS TROCHETIOPSIS Q. C. B. CRONK * The discovery in historic herbaria of an overlooked extinct endemic from the island of St Helena is reported. The first descriptions of St Helena Ebony, Trochetiopsis melanoxylon (Sterculiaceae), and the specimens associated with them in the herbaria of Oxford University (OXF) and the Natural History Museum, London (BM), do not match living and later-collected material, and instead represent an extinct plant. A new name is therefore needed for living St Helena Ebony: Trochetiopsis ebenus Cronk sp. nov. The hybrid between this species and the related T erythroxylon is also described here: Trochetiopsis x benjamini Cronk hybr. nov. (Sterculiaceae), and chromosome counts of 2n =40 are reported for the hybrid and both parents for the first time. The re-assessment of the extinct ebony emphasizes the importance of historic herbarium collections for the study of species extinction. INTRODUCTION In 1601 and 1610, at the beginning and end of his voyage to the East Indies, Franvois Pyrard de Laval touched at St Helena, an isolated island in the South Atlantic Ocean. He wrote: 'Sur Ie haut de la montagne il y a force arbre d'Ebene, et de bois de Rose' (Pyrard, 1679; Gray, 1890) - the first mention in print of species of Trochetiopsis (i.e. St Helena Redwood and St Helena Ebony). The island was settled in 1659, and the settlers of the English East India Company immediately put these ecologically important species to use.
    [Show full text]
  • Buy Trochetia Boutoniana - Plant Online at Nurserylive | Best Plants at Lowest Price
    Buy trochetia boutoniana - plant online at nurserylive | Best plants at lowest price Trochetia boutoniana - Plant Parrot tree Rating: Not Rated Yet Price Variant price modifier: Base price with tax Price with discount ?1234567 Salesprice with discount Sales price ?1234567 Sales price without tax ?1234567 Discount Tax amount Ask a question about this product Description Trochetia boutoniana also known by its native Creole name Boucle d Oreille is a shrub from the Trochetia genus endemic to Mauritius. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics. Common name: Parrot tree Color: Orange Bloom time: January to March Height: 30.00 to 40.00 feet Difficulty level: easy to grow Planting & Care The vining varieties require a support structure as some can get 15 feet tall. All plants prefer sun to light shade sites with well-draining and moderately fertile soil. Install the plant in the ground at the same level it was growing in the nursery pot. Most plants are grafted onto the common rootstock because of its superior hardiness. Sunlight: Full sun to part shade Soil: well-drained soil Water: Medium Temprature: 24.7° Fertilizer: Apply any organic fertilizer Care: Every leaf has a growth bud, so removing old flower blossoms encourages the plant to make more flowers instead of using the energy to make seeds. 1 / 2 Buy trochetia boutoniana - plant online at nurserylive | Best plants at lowest price Clean away from around the base of the rosebushes any trimmed debris that can harbor disease and insects. Late in the season, stop deadheading rugosas so that hips will form on the plants.
    [Show full text]