Jellyfish tree

The gynoecium of the flower resembles the tentacles of a jellyfish, hence the common and generic names of the plant. This plant exhibits many adaptations to dry climate, strange on a moist archipelago. It can withstand drought, and its seeds disperse by the wind. This suggests it has Gondwanan origins.

The jellyfish tree (Medusagyne oppositifolia), the only species of the family Medusagynaceae, is a critically endangered and unusual tree endemic to the island of Mahé, of the Seychelles. The plant was thought to be extinct until a few individuals were discovered in the 1970s. The gynoecium of the flower resembles the tentacles of a jellyfish, hence the common and generic names of the plant. This plant exhibits many adaptations to dry climate, strange on a moist archipelago. More

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The jellyfish tree was thought to be extinct until the 1970s, when a few trees were found, but the species still teeters on the brink of extinction. These small trees can reach up to 10 metres tall and have a dense, rounded crown of foliage. The bark ... More