New tree species named after Leonardo DiCaprio as tribute

The evergreen with large yellowish-green flowers, found in Cameroon’s Ebo forest, is the first new species to be officially named in 2022 and honours the actor’s anti-logging campaign in the country.

DiCaprio campaigned on social media after Cameroon granted permission for logging in the pristine wildlife reserve in 2020.
AP

DiCaprio campaigned on social media after Cameroon granted permission for logging in the pristine wildlife reserve in 2020.

A new tree species has been named after actor Leonardo DiCaprio as a tribute to the Hollywood star's anti-logging campaigning.

The tree's scientific name - Uvariopsis dicaprio - recognises the 47-year-old US actor's work to prevent logging in the endangered forest, where the only known specimen of the tree was found growing, London's Royal Botanic Gardens said on Thursday.

"We very much appreciated the support Leo gave us in campaigning to protect Ebo last year so it seemed fitting to honour him in this way," said Martin Cheek, who leads the Africa team in Kew's identification and naming department.

The Hollywood A-lister campaigned on social media after Cameroon granted permission for logging in the pristine wildlife reserve in 2020. 

'Critically endangered'

The concession was cancelled months later by Cameroon's President Paul Biya, "surely partly due to his support", the scientists wrote in PeerJ online journal, referring to DiCaprio.

"Had the logging concession gone ahead, we would have likely lost this species to timber extraction and slash and burn agriculture that usually follows logging concessions," Cheek said.

The Uvariopsis dicaprio has been provisionally listed as critically endangered.

The sole known specimen, which measures four metres high and has only male flowers, was discovered next to a footpath, the scientists said.

DiCaprio, best known for the 1997 film "Titanic", currently stars as an astronomer in the Netflix comedy "Don't Look Up" about scientists trying to draw the world's attention to a comet heading towards Earth.

He himself has nevertheless been criticised for flying in a private jet to pick up an environmental award in 2016.

Scientists at Kew have been naming new species of plants and fungi for more than 150 years.

It is not unusual for species to be named after celebrities.

READ MORE: Brazil's president accuses DiCaprio of financing Amazon fires sans evidence

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