City of Ballarat conserves endangered plant species

City of Ballarat horticultural staff are conserving four endangered indigenous plant species, as well as a collection of 30 rare and threatened indigenous species.  

The conservation of the four endangered plant species has come about via a range of small projects — some of them following requests from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).  

The four endangered indigenous plant species include: 

• The Matted Flax-Lily (Dianella amoena) — with only 2,500 plants left across 120 sites, the Matted Flax Lily is under threat from development at many of those sites. It was found in the indigenous grasslands of Victoria Park for the first time in 2018. 
   
• The Wombat Bossiaea (Bossiaea vombata) — described as its own species in 2006, there are only five distinct plants known to exist in the wild. They are located in the Wombat State Forest. Curiously leafless, the Wombat Bossiaea also has beautiful pea flowers in spring.  
   
• The Basalt Peppercress (Lepidium hyssopifolium) — a short-lived plant known from only nine natural sites in Victoria. The City of Ballarat is responsible for the conservation of the Spargo Creek population. 
   
• Stiff Groundsel (Senecio behrianus)  — a wetland plant, the Stiff Groundsel was believed to be extinct since the 1890s. However, four plants were rediscovered in 1991 in Corop in Northern Victoria. In 2004, the fifth plant was found in the Miners Rest wetland in suburban Ballarat. 

City of Ballarat horticultural staff are conserving these endangered species by monitoring the wild plants, sending harvested seeds to the Royal Botanic Garden Victoria (RBGV) seedbank, and propagating the plants via cuttings.  

This process has successfully created protected backup populations of each of these plant species in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens to safeguard the species for the future. Ballarat Community Nursery volunteers have also contributed their extensive knowledge of local plants and alternative methods of propagation. The City of Ballarat Trails and Waterways team, who maintain the wetlands, also regularly monitor the wild populations.  

The collection of rare and threatened Indigenous species forms part of the Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ) ‘Care for the Rare’ project. It aims to conserve rare or threatened plant species from the botanic gardens local area and build the conservation capacity of regional botanic gardens.  
 
Since taking part in the ‘Care for the Rare’ project, the Ballarat Botanical Garden’s Australia Garden has doubled in size to accommodate the collection — equating to about 800 indigenous plants.  

The conservation of endangered and rare or threatened plant species aligns with goal one of the Council Plan 2021-2025 — an environmentally sustainable future.  
 
City of Ballarat Councillor Samantha McIntosh said conserving local endangered, threatened or rare plant species was an important element in the City of Ballarat’s desire to preserve the natural environment.  

“The health of our natural environment is vital in supporting our community’s health and wellbeing,” she said.  

“We should all seek to leave the natural environment it in a better condition than it was found and so it is wonderful to see the staff at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens playing their part in protecting these special and rare species.”