The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World's Rarest Species

The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World's Rarest Species by Carlos Magdalena

The author has worked to help preserve and propagate endangered plants. He has worked with plants in individual islands as well as remote areas, such as the Amazon basin. The book talks about his experience working with the plants and what has been done to help recover the populations. In one case, the last known living tree was alone on an island. The residents would cut down sections of it. They ended up sorting to putting a cage around the tree to preserve what was left. They had to attempt to grow another tree via a cutting. However, this didn't bear fruit. The author then went through analysis and work to finally produce fruit. Then it was more effort to germinate the seed. Finally a version a new child was made available. In the book he details many other attempts at preserving species. He also identifies problems that lead to species eradications, such as poor political and environmental policies.