Serianthes nelsonii is a large tree endemic to Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

 and Rota

Rota (island)

Rota also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam...

 of the Mariana Islands

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...

. Only one mature tree exists on Guam, while 121 mature trees have been identified on Rota since 1984.

The tree is found in limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 forests in Rota and Guam. It has bipinnately

Pinnate

Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna meaning "feather", "wing", or "fin". A similar term is pectinate, which refers to a comb-like arrangement of parts...

 compound leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 and brush-like flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s with long pinkish filaments. Seedpods contain one to seven smooth brown seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s.

Name

There are three local names for S. nelsonii. On Guam, it is known as hayun lågu, meaning "northern tree" or "foreign tree", referring to Rota, which is located north of Guam. The common name on Rota is trongkon guåfi, meaning "fire tree". Another name on Rota is trongkon fi'a may have originated in a region on Rota called Fia. Alternatively, "fi'a" may have derived from the Chamorro

Chamorro language

Chamorro is a Malayo-Polynesian language, spoken on the Mariana Islands by about 47,000 people Chamorro (Chamorro: Fino' Chamoru or simply Chamoru) is a Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian) language, spoken on the Mariana Islands (Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan) by about 47,000 people Chamorro...

 pronunciation of "fire", from "guåfi". The species was named "nelsonii" by E.D. Merrill in 1919 to honor Peter Nelson of the Guam Department of Agriculture, the discoverer of the plant.

Conservation

S. nelsonii was declared an endangered plant in 1987 and was assessed as critically endangered in 1998. The University of Guam

University of Guam

University of Guam is a four-year land-grant institution, located in the village of Mangilao on the island of Guam in the Western Pacific Ocean...

 began a program to save the plant in 1998 with the help of numerous other agencies. S. nelsonii seedlings are being raised on protected lands for transplantation back into the wilds of Guam. On Rota, the Department of Lands and Natural Resources is monitoring the plant population and growing seedlings in a plant nursery.

Insufficient regeneration is blamed for the decline of the population. Possible causes include insect predation on seeds and predation on seedlings by invasive

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

 ungulate

Ungulate

Ungulates are several groups of mammals, most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole body weight while moving. They make up several orders of mammals, of which six to eight survive...

s and mealybug

Mealybug

Mealybugs are insects in the family Pseudococcidae, unarmored scale insects found in moist, warm climates. They are considered pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and subtropical trees and also acts as a vector for several plant diseases.-Distribution:Mealybugs...

s. The subpopulation on Rota is expected to decline as older trees die.

External links

• "Recovery Plan for Serianthes nelsonii", United States Fish and Wildlife Service
  United States Fish and Wildlife Service
  The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
  
  (accessed 23 April 2009)