''Ilex cookii'' (Cook's holly or ''te'') is a species of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

in the family Aquifoliaceae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. It is a federally listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

of the United States.

Conservation

This tree is only known from a single specimen and a few seedlings in the

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

s on Cerro de Punta and Monte Jayuya, both at

Toro Negro State Forest Toro Negro State Forest (Spanish: ''Bosque Estatal de Toro Negro'') is one of the 21 forests that make up the public forests system in Puerto Rico. It is also Puerto Rico's highest cloud forest. It is in the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico, Cord ...

in Puerto Rico. Other specimens were probably destroyed when a communications tower was installed on Cerro de Punta. ''I. cookii'' was listed as a federally endangered species in 1987. It was additionally listed as an Annex I species to the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife Protocol of the Cartagena Convention in 1991.

References

External links

''Recovery Plan: Ilex Cookii/Cyathea dryopteroides.'' US FWS. Atlanta, Georgia. 1990.
cookii Endemic flora of Puerto Rico Critically endangered flora of North America Critically endangered flora of the United States Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Species known from a single specimen ESA endangered species {{Ilex-stub