The world's only remaining wild specimen of the Putuo Hornbeam is located on Putuo Mountain Island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Tide News]

In midsummer, on Putuo Mountain Island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, over 50 newly transplanted Putuo Hornbeam saplings are flourishing under the sunlight.

These saplings, sourced from a specialized nursery in the city, were relocated to their native habitat on the island in late March this year, as part of efforts aimed at expanding the artificial population and enhancing natural breeding capabilities.

Due to changes in the ecological environment and difficulties in self-pollination and seed production, only one wild specimen of the Putuo Hornbeam remains anywhere in the world. Known as the "Earth's only child," this solitary tree holds the distinction of being the species with the fewest existing specimens on the "National List of 120 Extremely Small Populations of Wild Plants”.

Because of its rarity, the Putuo Hornbeam was listed as a national first-class protected wild plant by the State Council in 1999, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified it as "Critically Endangered".

The Zhoushan Forestry Academy has made significant efforts to protect the Putuo Hornbeam, including seedling propagation technology research, wild reintroduction experiments, genetic diversity studies, and near-site (translocation) protection research. As a result, the Putuo Hornbeam population has grown from a single tree to over 40,000 individuals.

In 1930, during a serendipitous trip to Putuo Mountain, renowned modern Chinese botanist Zhong Guanguang was delighted to discover this monoecious tree species, of which there was only one specimen.

It differed from other known species in the Carpinus genus. Two years later, the famous forestry scientist Zheng Wanjun identified the tree as a new species in the Betulaceae family and named it Putuo Hornbeam after its location in Putuo.