The only known specimens of Encephalartos woodii (E. woodii), a species of cycad, are all clones of the same male plant found over 100 years ago in a South African forest.
Now a team of researchers is on a mission to find an elusive female version of the plant, with the help of drones and artificial intelligence.
In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to Laura Cinti, a research fellow at the University of Southampton in the UK, about her determined quest to save the species – called the world’s “loneliest” plant.
