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by Spektrum der Wissenschaft
Can Australia's zombie tree survive?
28.1.2026
Translation: machine translated
Barely discovered and already threatened with extinction: an Australian tree species is already more dead than alive. But researchers are not giving up hope just yet.
Fungi are among the worst species spread around the planet, threatening native plants and animals - from frogs and salamanders to bats to trees like the ash. In Australia, at least 17 tree species are on the verge of disappearing because an invasive rust fungus from South America is threatening them. These species now include Rhodamnia zombi, a tree species that was only described in 2020 and can no longer reproduce successfully due to the disease. This is reported by scientists led by Roderick Fensham from the Queensland Herbarium and Biodiversity Science in Toowong.
Because the species is currently more dead than alive, scientists have given it the species name zombi. Nevertheless, they still harbour hopes of being able to preserve the species. Since its discovery, at least ten per cent of the then known individuals of these trees, which grow in the rainforest of the Burnett region in Queensland, have already died. It is a rather small to medium-sized tree species from the myrtle family with dark green leaves and small, white flowers.
The light yellow rust fungus attacks the young shoots of these plants and causes them to die until the entire individual eventually dies. The tree no longer grows and can no longer reproduce via seed. So far, botanists have not been able to find any resistant individuals or unaffected populations, which is why the species has been categorised as critically endangered. However, related species appear to be resistant to the fungus, which is why Fensham does not want to give up hope of finding or cultivating resistant representatives of Rhodamnia zombi after all.
The scientists are therefore looking for non-infected plants from which they can cut healthy shoots. These are then to be grown into mature trees in protected locations. There are also specimens that have been grown from seeds collected in the past and which, according to Fensham, are being looked after by specialists. However, they must be constantly monitored to prevent fungal infections. From these trees, representatives of Rhodamnia zombi will then emerge in the next generation, which could show initial resistance. The long-term plan is to eventually replant robust individuals in the rainforest.
However, without these intensive measures, the plants would just be living dead, according to the scientist. Like 16 other species, they are listed in category X on the Australian Red List: still in existence, but doomed to extinction within a generation.
Spectrum of Science
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Header image: University of Queensland (detail)
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