[2] By 1980, it appeared to be restricted to Grande Montagne and Cascade Victoire, and by 1989, the species was considered to be "on the verge of extinction".

[2] Some seeds were sent to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where they were successfully germinated in 1982 and subsequently grown up.

[2] Pyrostria revoluta is a shrub or small tree, at up to 4–6 metres (13–20 ft) tall.

Mature leaves are a similar length, but up to 9.5 cm (3.7 in) wide.

[3] It followed a scientific expedition to Rodrigues to observe the 1874 transit of Venus, on which Balfour, along with George Gulliver and Henry Horrocks Slater, served as naturalist.