'Extinct' Plant Found Near Golden Gate-Last Franciscan Manzanita Believed To Have Perished In 1940's

[Kadie]

'Extinct' Plant Found Near Golden Gate
Last Franciscan Manzanita Believed To Have Perished In 1940s

POSTED: 2:42 pm PST December 14, 2009
UPDATED: 3:00 pm PST December 14, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO -- A plant native to San Francisco that was thought extinct by botanists has been discovered near the Golden Gate Bridge.

The last, wild Franciscan Manzanita was believed to have perished in the 1940s when the city cemeteries where it grew were moved south to allow for neighborhood expansion.

But when construction crews recently cleared eucalyptus trees in the city's Presidio area, it exposed the only specimen known to exist in the wild.

Botanist Daniel Gluesenkamp spotted the manzanita shrub as he drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. He later visited the site to confirm his sighting -- the first in nearly 70 years.

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