This New Tree Species Has Been Named After Leonardo DiCaprio
Scientists from the United Kingdom recently discovered a new tree and named it Uvariopsis DiCaprio.
Does this name sound familiar? Well, the tree is indeed named after Leonardo DiCaprio.
Besides his overwhelming successful career in Hollywood, the actor has long been known as an environmental activist, too.
In 1998, he established The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation with a mission to protect “Earth’s last wild places and implement solutions to build a more harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world.”
Since then, the foundation has continued to support over thirty-five international conservation projects.
DiCaprio is also a board member for numerous environmental protection agencies, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, the World Wildlife Fund, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and more. And, most recently, in 2020, DiCaprio took to social media to help stop logging in the Ebo Forest.
The group of scientists announced their dedication in the scientific journal PeerJ.
“This threatened and spectacular tree is named for the American actor and conservationist Leonardo DiCaprio, who, through several months in 2020, lobbied extensively on social media to draw attention to threats for the numerous rare Ebo species from the logging concession that had been announced at Ebo earlier that year,” the scientists wrote.
“The concession was canceled in August 2020, surely partly due to his efforts.”
LOS ANGELES – 1991: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio auditions at a casting agency in 1991 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Grecco)
The new tree is critically endangered and grows only in the Cameroon forest. It has yellow-green and glossy flowers, and its leaves emit a strong citrus scent when crushed. The Uvariopsis DiCaprio will now be a part of the ylang-ylang family.
Still, while the scientists were excited to dedicate this discovery to DiCaprio, they are also eager to continue working.
Just last year, the group named over two hundred new fungi and plants. Unfortunately, some of these species are already endangered or extinct due to destructive environmental practices.
“There are still thousands of plant species and maybe millions of fungal species out there that we do not know about,” said Dr. Martin Cheek.
“This natural habitat that they’re growing in is increasingly and more rapidly being destroyed by us humans without even knowing what’s there.”
To read the complete scientific journal, visit the link here.
LOS ANGELES – 1991: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio auditions at a casting agency in 1991 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Grecco)
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