Waterlily Saved from Extinction

A scientist based at the UK's Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has prevented the world's smallest waterlily from becoming extinct.

Carlos Magdalena now plans to repopulate the plant in its native home in the hot springs of Rwanda. The world's biggest species of waterlily can have pads that grow to around 3m (10ft). By contrast the thermal lily is just a centimetre wide – with tiny satin white flowers with a butter yellow centre.

Two years ago, this delicate bloom went extinct in the wild due to over-exploitation of its habitat. Luckily its seeds were kept in storage – and were used by Carlos Magdalena to regrow the plant at Kew Gardens – just outside London. It took him months to find the ideal conditions for growth. He hopes now that the Thermal Lily will flourish once again in the hot springs of Rwanda.

"I feel really feel happy and relieved when I managed to successfully grow the plant. I realised then that it wasn't going to disappear forever," he told BBC News.