''Myoporum rimatarense'' was a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and was endemic to Rimatara Island in

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

. It is only known from the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimen collected in 1921 and 1934 and was declared extinct in 2021 by the IUCN Red List.

Description

''Myoporum rimatarense'' is a small tree growing to a height of . The leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, the same colour on both surfaces and with a mid-vein visible on the lower surface. The flowers are borne singly or in groups of up to 4 in the axils of leaves on stalks long and have 5 pointed sepals. The size, shape and colour of the

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s and

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s is not known. The fruit is a more or less spherical

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

Taxonomy

''Myoporum rimatarense'' was first formally described in 1935 by

Forest B. H. Brown Forest Buffen Harkness Brown (1873–1954) was an American botanist known for his work on pteridophytes and spermatophytes. Life and research Brown studied forestry, systematic botany, and ecology at the University of Michigan in 1902, receivi ...

and the description was published in ''

Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''rimatarense'' refers to the name of the island where the

specimen was collected by A.M.Stokes.

Distribution and habitat

''Myoporum rimatarense'' was only found on Rimatara Island. The type specimen was collected on a sandy beach near the village of Amaru.

Conservation

An extensive search in 2004 failed to find a single specimen and the species is now presumed

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5500474 rimatarense Extinct flora of Oceania Flora of French Polynesia Plants described in 1935 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Forest B.H. Brown