Seeds from a rare new palm tree from Madagascar - which flowers once in its
lifetime and then dies - are being studied, and even propagated into
seedlings.

WEST SUSSEX, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 30, 2008) REUTERS -

Seeds from a rare new species of palm tree discovered in Madagascar
are being studied, and even propagated into seedlings, experts at the
Millennium Seed Bank said on Wednesday (April 30).
    "This is really the very first seed set we got from the palm so
it's really, really a delight and excitement to see those seedlings
sprouting," said Dr. Moctar Sacande, the Africa Co-ordinator at the
Millennium Seed Bank located in West Sussex, outside of London.
    Tahina spectabilis is Madagascar's most massive palm tree. It stands
fifty feet above the ground and has fan-shaped leaves that, at fifteen feet in
diameter, rank among the largest of any flowering plant.
    Its bizarre lifecycle - it is thought it grows for up to 50 years,
flowers spectacularly once in its lifetime, then dies - means there may not be
an opportunity to harvest more seeds from the 100 or so individuals that exist
on the island for many years to come.
    Botanists at RBG Kew announced the discovery of Tahina spectabilis,
made in Madagascar, in January this year.
    Frenchman Xavier Metz, who manages a cashew plantation there, was
walking in north-western Madagascar with his family when they stumbled across
the giant palm with its huge pyramidal flowering structure sprouting out of
the tip. They took photographs which soon reached John Dransfield, an Honorary
Research Fellow of Kew.
    "All of a sudden this tiny, corner of a place in Madagascar became
the world's attention," Sacande said, adding that the feedback has
underlined the importance of conserving biodiversity to the local
community.
    More than 90 per cent of Madagascar's 10,000 plant species occur
nowhere else in the world.
As this species is entirely new to science, its biological information is
vital to increasing knowledge and understanding of how best to conserve
it.
    Around 1,000 grape-sized seeds, harvested by local villagers in
collaboration with the Kew team, arrived at the Millennium Seed Bank in
February.
    Scientists are testing the seeds for their tolerance to extreme cold
and desiccation - seeds are dried out before they are placed in the Seed
Bank's storage vaults at -20°C. They will also be studied to learn how long it
takes the seeds to germinate and last in these storage conditions.
    "Due to the limited number of seeds we have to be smart and clever
on how to distribute that and mainly it's a god thing that if you handle or
you work with a new species like this to have some samples all over the world
for education purposes. So we have sent them to - we have sent some seeds to
America, different botanical gardens - then to Asia, to Africa, to Australia,
also," Sacande said.
    The seeds are undergoing testing by Kew's Millennium Seed Bank
scientists to determine whether they can be stored alongside seeds from the
almost 22,000 wild flowering plant species already conserved at the Seed
Bank.