Ramosmania is a genus of two species of small trees in the family Rubiaceae; one is extinct. Both species are endemic to the island of Rodrigues, Mauritius.
Taxonomy It was described by Deva D. Tirvengadum and Bernard Verdcourt in 1982Ramosmania Tirveng. & Verdc. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved September 20, 2025, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:893224-1 with Ramosmania heterophylla as the type species. Ramosmania was identified as the sister group to the genus Fernelia Kainulainen, K., Razafimandimbison, S. G., Wikström, N., & Bremer, B. (2017). Island hopping, long‐distance dispersal and species radiation in the Western Indian Ocean: Historical biogeography of the Coffeeae alliance (Rubiaceae). Journal of Biogeography, 44(9), 1966-1979.Mouly, A., Kainulainen, K., Persson, C., Davis, A. P., Wong, K. M., Razafimandimbison, S. G., & Bremer, B. (2014). Phylogenetic structure and clade circumscriptions in the Gardenieae complex (Rubiaceae). Taxon, 63(4), 801–818. http://www.jstor.org/stable/taxon.63.4.801 Species The genus comprises two species: Ramosmania rodriguesii †Ramosmania heterophylla (extinct)
Cytology The diploid chromosome count of Ramosmania rodriguesii is 2n = 22.Kiehn, M., & Berger, A. (2023). "New chromosome counts on Rubiaceae from Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands." Nordic Journal of Botany, e03732.
Conservation The only remaining species, Ramosmania rodriguesii, was re-discovered by a schoolboy in 1979.Smith, P. (2023, June 1). The loneliest tree in the world. Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Retrieved June 30, 2023, from https://www.bgci.org/news-events/the-loneliest-tree-in-the-world/ After its rediscovery, the local population repeatedly cut off branches of the only remaining tree. To prevent its extinction, cuttings were sent to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Vegetative propagation was successful, however generative reproduction was not possible, as only functionally male flowers were formed. Later, it was discovered that heat stress could induce the formation of female flowers, which were then successfully pollinated.Seynsche, M. (2009, August 5). Kaffee mit Todessehnsucht. Deutschlandfunk. Retrieved June 30, 2023, from https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/kaffee-mit-todessehnsucht-100.html Cultivated plants have been reintroduced to Rodrigues, but it is still classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1998. Ramosmania rodriguesii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1998: e.T33659A9801264. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T33659A9801264.en. Accessed on 30 June 2023.
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