That's a very interesting story . Sarah

Interesting information, but what happened to the sunbirds? Ruth

What an interesting, if sad, story. I sure if you are able to save viable seed some of us crazies would be willing to try it.

Interesting information, I had never heard of this plant before. It reminds me of the situation with some endangered bird-pollinated plants in Hawaii, which need to be hand-pollinated in the wild because their avian pollinators are extinct or on the brink.

Didn't the doodoo (sp?) bird help to pollinate some plant and therefore, the plant also became extinct? Ruth

updated Wikipedias page on this plant.

All of my plants are from the same supplier so must be clones. Because they are genetically identical I dont get any seeds, unfortunately.

I love this plant. The upright beaked flowers contrast in both shape and color with the fine blue-grey foliage when its allowed to hang. I plant it with other plants in my window boxes and have even spotted a rare hummer or two (there found here only on migration) in the fall - a rare find for us here indeed! They dont even really breed in my state, and as far as I know im the only one in town whos ever seen one here. There only bloom in the fall if i deadhead them thought the year, similar to petunias.

flowerpowereverett, i dont know what happened to the sunbirds. They must have died out there for some reason, and its been so long that its hard to know for certain the reasons.

I think you are referring to the dodo tree, and boy do i have tale to tell you! Do a google on Dodo tree and youl hear the miraculous story of its revival from near death. Ill save you the trouble, heres the gist it:

"Recently a scientist noticed that a certain species of tree was becoming quite rare on Mauritius. In fact, he noticed that all 13 of the remaining trees of this species were about 300 years old. No new trees had germinated since the late 1600s. Since the average life span of this tree was about 300 years, the last members of the species were extremely old. They would soon die, and the species would be extinct. Was it just a coincidence that the tree had stopped reproducing 300 years ago and that the dodo had become extinct 300 years ago? No. It turns out that the dodo ate the fruit of this tree, and it was only by passing through the dodo's digestive system that the seeds became active and could grow. Now, more than 300 years after one species became extinct, another was to follow as a direct consequence. Will more follow?
Luckily, some creative people discovered that domestic turkey gullets sufficiently mimic the action of the dodo's digestive system. They have used turkeys to begin a new generation of the tree, which is now called the dodo tree. If these seedlings survive to produce their own seeds, the species will be saved. "

That story was widely circulated, but now truns out to be exaggerated if not a outright fabrification put forwards by a man named Stanley Temple . Wikipedia has a great article on, and since its a public service free for redistribution (if given credit) heres their explenation, with various references:
"Strahm and Cheke, two experts in Mascarene ecology, claim that while a rare tree, it has germinated since the demise of the dodo and numbers in the hundreds, not 13. The decline of the tree is possibly because of introduced pigs and monkeys and competition with introduced plants. Catling (2001) in a summary cites Owadally and Temple (1979), and Witmer (1991). Hershey (2004) reviewed the flaws in Temple's dodo-tambalacoque hypothesis" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo_tree