A plant that was believed to have been extinct for more than a century has been found clinging to rocks and cliffs in a remote part of China.

The seeds of Paraisometrum mileense, which has small yellow flowers, have now been preserved to ensure its long-term survival

Researchers from the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place, near Ardingly, West Sussex, helped locate it in the southwestern Yunnan province in China in August, having last been seen in 1906 by a French missionary, E. Ducloux.

Jie Cai, of the seed bank, said: “It is greatly encouraging for botanists and conservationists to rediscover a species thought to be extinct in the wild and only to exist as a preserved, dried specimen. Now its future can be protected.”

The plant, which was found by Chinese plant-hunters working with the Millennium Seed Bank, grows naturally on limestone.

Live specimens are to be grown in a botanical garden in China.

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