1423: "Three Kings Kaikomako"

HistoryPodcastScience
Written By JC

Interesting Things with JC #1423: "Three Kings Kaikomako" – On a windswept island stripped bare by goats, one tree refused to vanish. A single survivor held the line for its entire species. Its rescue was a race against extinction, saved by one branch, one act, one chance.

Curriculum - Episode Anchor

Episode Title
Three Kings Kaikomako

Episode Number
#1423

Host
JC

Audience
Grades 9–12, college intro, homeschool, lifelong learners

Subject Area
Biology, Environmental Science, Conservation, History of Science

Lesson Overview

Students will:

  • Define key ecological and botanical terms, including clone, endemic species, and conservation.

  • Compare natural regeneration vs. human-assisted species survival methods.

  • Analyze the ecological vulnerability of mono-gendered and clonal populations.

  • Explain how human actions—positive or negative—can directly influence biodiversity.

Key Vocabulary

  • Kaikomako (kye-koh-MAH-koh) — A rare tree from the Three Kings Islands; its name comes from Māori and connects to cultural uses for fire-starting and bird food.

  • Clone (klohn) — A genetically identical copy of an organism, as seen in the replication of the lone Kaikomako tree.

  • Manawatawhi (mah-nah-wah-TAH-fee) — The largest island in the Three Kings chain where the original Kaikomako tree was found.

  • Conservation (kon-ser-VAY-shun) — Human efforts to protect and sustain endangered species and ecosystems.

  • Pennantia baylisiana (pen-ANN-tee-uh bay-liss-ee-ANN-uh) — The scientific name for the rarest tree in the world, the Kaikomako of the Three Kings.

Narrative Core

  • Open – A remote Pacific island battered by wind and goats hides a single surviving tree.

  • Info – The Three Kings Islands’ ecology and how goat introduction devastated plant life.

  • Details – Geoff Baylis’s 1945 discovery and how cloning saved the Kaikomako species.

  • Reflection – How one person’s action and decades of careful cultivation prevented extinction.

  • Closing – "These are interesting things, with JC."

Amazing native New Zealand people planting a Kaikomako sapling

Transcript

Northwest of Cape Reinga (RAY-ing-ah), about 34 miles (55 kilometers) out in the Pacific, sits a chain of steep islands called the Three Kings, or Ngā Motu Karaka (NAH moh-too KAH-rah-kah). The biggest one is called Manawatawhi (mah-nah-wah-TAH-fee). The place is rough. Bare rock. Sharp ridges. Wind that never quits. In the 1800s, sailors left goats there. The goats ate nearly every green thing they could reach, and by the early 1900s, the islands were nearly stripped bare.

Yet on a slope more than 760 feet (233 meters) above the sea, one tree managed to survive. Just one. Its scientific name is Pennantia baylisiana (pen-ANN-tee-uh bay-liss-ee-ANN-uh). People in New Zealand call it the Kaikomako (kye-koh-MAH-koh) of the Three Kings (Ngā Motu Karaka — NAH moh-too KAH-rah-kah). The word comes from Māori (MAH-oh-ree). Kai (rhymes with “pie”) means food, and komako (koh-MAH-koh) is the name of a bellbird that once fed on its fruit. Related trees had dry twigs that burned hot and fast, perfect for starting cooking fires. The name remembers that use.

In January 1945, a young botanist named Geoff Baylis (BAY-liss) climbed up Manawatawhi (mah-nah-wah-TAH-fee) to check what the goats hadn’t destroyed. What he found was a mature female Kaikomako (kye-koh-MAH-koh), standing by itself. No seedlings. No other adults. No male tree in sight. Just one survivor.

Baylis (BAY-liss) cut a branch and carried it back. That small act kept the tree from being lost. Scientists rooted cuttings from it, and for decades every Kaikomako (kye-koh-MAH-koh) alive was a copy of that one. All female. No wild male has ever been found.

That made the species fragile. No males meant no natural seed. No seed meant no real way forward. And because every clone was nearly identical, one good disease could have wiped them all out at once.

Still, people worked at it. By the 1980s, nearly 200 young trees had been grown in New Zealand gardens. Today there are several hundred more, with some planted overseas as a safeguard. In the 1980s and 1990s, researchers used careful hormone treatments and hand pollination. They managed to coax a few cultivated Kaikomako (kye-koh-MAH-koh) trees into making viable seed. That gave the species a bit of genetic variety beyond simple clones. It wasn’t much, but it meant the line could carry on.

The original tree is still there. High on its ledge on Manawatawhi (mah-nah-wah-TAH-fee), bent by the sea wind, likely more than a century old. Nearly eighty years after Baylis (BAY-liss) cut that first branch, it remains rooted in the same slope where he found it.

Species die out when nobody steps in. This one didn’t, because one man saw it, stopped, and cut a single branch. That branch was enough to save the rarest tree on Earth.

These are interesting things, with JC.

Student Worksheet

  1. What environmental factors made the Three Kings Islands inhospitable to native vegetation?

  2. Why was the Kaikomako at risk of extinction even after clones were grown?

  3. Describe how Geoff Baylis contributed to the survival of the Kaikomako species.

  4. What does the Māori name for Kaikomako reveal about its historical uses?

  5. Imagine you are a conservation botanist. Write a one-paragraph proposal to preserve another rare plant using techniques from this episode.

Teacher Guide

Estimated Time
45–60 minutes

Pre-Teaching Vocabulary Strategy
Use a pronunciation guide, botanical illustrations, and a New Zealand map to contextualize place names and terms. Briefly introduce cloning and conservation through real-world examples.

Anticipated Misconceptions

  • That cloning restores full species health or genetic diversity.

  • That conservation is only about protecting animals, not plants.

  • That one tree cannot have ecosystem-level significance.

Discussion Prompts

  • What lessons can we learn about biodiversity from the Kaikomako?

  • Should humans interfere with nature to preserve species? Why or why not?

  • How do cultural naming practices connect with scientific conservation?

Differentiation Strategies

  • ESL: Use bilingual botanical vocabulary sheets with visuals.

  • IEP: Offer sentence stems for worksheet answers.

  • Gifted: Assign a short research task comparing the Kaikomako to another “living fossil” species.

Extension Activities

  • Research other "last of their kind" species and write a case file report.

  • Model genetic diversity with Punnett squares using hypothetical Kaikomako seeds.

  • Role-play a conservation debate panel: scientists, indigenous leaders, and policymakers.

Cross-Curricular Connections

  • Biology: Genetics, plant reproduction, cloning, seed dispersal

  • Geography: Isolated ecosystems and island biogeography

  • Ethics: Human intervention and conservation

  • Cultural Studies: Māori language and knowledge systems

Quiz

Q1. Where is the original Kaikomako tree located?
A. South Island of New Zealand
B. North Island rainforest
C. Manawatawhi, Three Kings Islands
D. Auckland Botanic Gardens
Answer: C

Q2. Why was the Kaikomako tree originally at risk?
A. It was overharvested for firewood
B. It had no male counterpart for reproduction
C. It was attacked by insects
D. It grew too slowly to survive
Answer: B

Q3. What action did Geoff Baylis take in 1945?
A. He burned the area to reduce goats
B. He planted seeds from the Kaikomako
C. He cloned a tree in the lab
D. He cut a branch and propagated it
Answer: D

Q4. What does “komako” refer to in Māori?
A. A type of cooking pot
B. A wind that bends trees
C. A native bellbird
D. A sacred mountain
Answer: C

Q5. Which of the following is a reason why cloning all Kaikomako trees was risky?
A. They grew too quickly
B. They couldn’t survive in gardens
C. They were genetically identical
D. They spread invasive seeds
Answer: C

Assessment

  1. Explain how cloning helped and hurt the survival of the Kaikomako species.

  2. Do you think the Kaikomako would have survived without human help? Support your answer with evidence from the episode.

3–2–1 Rubric

  • 3 – Accurate, complete, thoughtful explanation or argument with examples.

  • 2 – Partial explanation with minor errors or missing depth.

  • 1 – Inaccurate or vague response lacking support.

Standards Alignment

U.S. Standards

  • NGSS HS-LS4-4 – Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation.
    Students explore how the Kaikomako's survival reflects lack of genetic variation due to cloning.

  • NGSS HS-LS3-1 – Ask questions to clarify how genetic variations affect survival.
    The episode provides a case study in genetic bottlenecks and clonal fragility.

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.2 – Determine central ideas of scientific texts.
    Students identify the central problem of the Kaikomako’s survival and how it was solved.

  • C3.D2.Geo.7.9-12 – Analyze how environmental and cultural characteristics influence ecosystems.
    Students evaluate the ecological impact of goats and human intervention.

International Equivalents

  • AQA Biology GCSE 4.6.3.3 – Genetic engineering and cloning
    Relevant to understanding cloning of rare plant species.

  • IB Biology (SL/HL) Topic 5.3 – Classification of biodiversity
    Use the Kaikomako to understand species conservation and threats.

  • Cambridge IGCSE Biology 3.3 – Asexual reproduction and cloning
    Supports cloning as a form of propagation and its limits.

Show Notes

This episode explores the remote Three Kings Islands of New Zealand, where a lone Kaikomako tree (Pennantia baylisiana) narrowly escaped extinction. After being discovered by botanist Geoff Baylis in 1945, the tree was cloned to prevent the species from vanishing entirely. The episode provides a rich intersection of science, history, ecology, and human action, making it ideal for biology and environmental science classrooms. It invites students to think critically about the fragility of ecosystems, the ethics of genetic cloning, and the power of individuals in conservation history.

References

JC https://jimconnors.org
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