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This is a story of a plant, but not just any plant.
这是一个关于某棵树的故事，但不是随便某种植物。
It is the story of a plant that long, long ago once ruled the world.
这是一个关于很久很久以前曾征服世界的一棵树的故事。
A plant that, today, is the very last of its kind.
如今，这棵树可能是该种类中唯一的代表了。
It's this plant, behind me, Encephalartos woodii. E. Woodii for short,
它就是我背后这棵树，学名Encephalartos woodii，简称伍德苏铁。
and I've been looking after it for over 20 years.
我照顾这棵树已经照顾了20年了。
It was named for British botanist, John Medley Wood,
这种树是以英国植物学家John Medley Wood的名字命名的。
who in 1895 discovered it growing on a hillside on the coast of South Africa.
就在1895年，Wood在南非海岸的一个山坡上发现了这种树。
A strange, handsome plant caught his eye,
这种长相奇特，甚至还有点儿漂亮的植物吸引了植物学家的注意。
and he carefully removed a small portion of it and had it shipped all the way to London to here, Kew Gardens,
他小心翼翼地从树上取了一小部分并用船寄回了伦敦，最后就到了这里，英国皇家植物园，
where it's been for the last 117 years.
这棵树现在在这里已经长了117年了。
But its history goes much, much further back.
但这种树的历史要久远得多。
You see, Encephalartos woodii, is what is known as a cycad,
伍德苏铁是一种苏铁属植物，
and cycads have been around for 300 million years.
而苏铁已经有大约3亿年的历史了。
As the millennium rolled on, cycads flourished providing shade for triceratops,
时光荏苒，三角恐龙曾在苏铁的树荫下纳凉，
a perch for pterodactyls, and a tasty snack for brontosauruses.
翼龙在苏铁树上栖息，雷龙则在苏铁的树叶之间美餐。
At one point during the Jurassic, cycads made up 20% of all the plants on Earth,
在侏罗纪时代的某个阶段，全球的苏铁覆盖率达到了20%，
and covered every corner of the globe.
遍及世界各个角落。
But the good times couldn't last forever. The dinosaurs went extinct.
然而，好景不长，恐龙灭绝，
Ice Ages came and went,
冰河世纪来了又走，
new modern plants, like conifers and fruit trees, started pushing cycads out,
松柏、果树之类的新生现代植物出现，苏铁逐渐被淘汰，
and the once proud population of E. Woodiis were reduced and reduced,
曾经灿烂一时的伍德苏铁不断减少，
and reduced, that's why there was possibly only one left.
最后大概只剩下了一株伍德苏铁树，
One single solitary E. Woodii growing quietly on a hillside.
一棵孤零零而又安静地长在一个山坡上的伍德苏铁，
Which brings us right back to John Medley Wood.
所以，我们又回到了John Medley Wood时代的情形。
At the time, he had no way of knowing just how rare his discovery was,
那时，他并不知道他的发现有多稀奇，
but expedition after expedition in search of more E. Woodii have proved fruitless.
然而，寻找更多的伍德苏铁的探索不断，却都以失败告终了。
You see, cycads are dioecious, meaning, you need separate male and female plants to create a new one,
要知道，苏铁是雌雄异株植物，这也就意味着必须把雄株和雌株分开才能培育出新的苏铁树。
and this one happens to be a male, a true lonely bachelor.
这株伍德苏铁恰巧是雄株，如假包换又孑孓独立的单身汉。
If a female mate cannot be found it really will be the last of its kind.
如果找不到雌株的伍德苏铁，那这株就真的成了世上最后一科伍德苏铁了。
To this day, researchers are still looking.
时至今日，研究人员们仍在继续寻找雌株伍德苏铁。
After all, it's a big world, there might just be a chance.
毕竟，这是一个浩瀚的世界，我们说不定还有一线希望。
In the meantime, it'll have me to keep him company.
而且，在找到雌株之前，我会一直陪伴他的。
