St Helena olive  (Nesiota elliptica)

Description

In 2002, the St Helena olive had been lost from the wild and persisted only precariously, as one cultivated individual (3), but since then this individual has died, making this species totally extinct (1). This olive was a relatively low and spreading tree with numerous branches and dark brown to black bark (2). The dark green leaves were oblong in shape with curved tips; they had a pale underside with flat-lying hairs (2). The inflorescence (flower stalk) was branched and did not rise above the leaves; in season it bore numerous, tightly packed pale pink flowers (2). The fruits were hard, woody capsules measuring one to two centimetres long, they split when mature revealing the triangular, shiny black seeds inside (2).

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