On the dry plains of Central Otago, a small native herb has been given another chance to survive in the wild. Craspedia argentea, a woollyhead found only around the Pisa Flats, had dwindled to just two known plants. By then, even the ordinary business of pollination had become difficult. There were simply too few plants left for the population to function as it once had. Conservationists stepped in, collecting the tiny amount of seed they could find and beginning a careful programme of hand-pollination and propagation.
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