Lebronnecia

{{Short description|Genus of shrubs}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Lebronnecia kokioides - Koko Crater Botanical Garden - IMG 2266.JPG

| status = EN

| status_system = IUCN2.3

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Florence, J. |date=1998 |title=Lebronnecia kokioides |volume=1998 |page=e.T30398A9537122 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T30398A9537122.en |access-date=17 November 2021}}

| display_parents = 3

| genus = Lebronnecia

| parent_authority = Fosberg & Sachet (1966){{GRIN genus | name = Lebronnecia | id = 6584 | accessdate = 30 April 2017}}

| species = kokioides

| authority = Fosberg & Sachet (1966){{ThePlantList | id = kew-2494195 | taxon = Lebronnecia kokioides | accessdate = 30 April 2017}}

}}

Lebronnecia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae.Wendel, J. F., Brubaker, C. L., & Seelanan, T. (2010). [http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/faculty/WendelJ/pdfs/Wendeletal2010theOriginandEvolutionofGossypium.pdf The origin and evolution of Gossypium.] In: Physiology of Cotton (pp. 1-18). Springer Netherlands. The sole species is Lebronnecia kokioides, a very rare flowering shrub.

Distribution

Only a few hundred specimens are known to exist. The plant was first described in 1966, after a single tree with a few seedlings was discovered on Tahuata, an island in the Marquesas group of French Polynesia that had been severely deforested by livestock: cattle, goats, horses, and pigs.

Further specimens were later found on the nearby island of Mohotani, uninhabited by humans, but similarly deforested by sheep, who seem to avoid eating the plant.{{cite web |url=http://hibiscus-malvaceae.blogspot.com/2008/05/lebronnecia-kokioides.html |title=Hibiscus & Malvaceae: Cultivation, Conservation, Education: Lebronnecia kokioides |date=11 May 2009 |access-date=2011-01-23 }}

It is now being cultivated in Hawaii.{{cite web |url=http://www.marinelifephotography.com/flowers/malvaceae/malvaceae.htm |title=MarinelifePhotography.com: Plants: Malvaceae |author=Keoki & Yuko Stender |access-date=2011-01-23 }}

References