News release

From: The University of New England

Botanists at the University of New England (UNE) have formally described a new plant species endemic to north-eastern NSW, ending more than a century of scientific misidentification.

The newly described Phebalium banyabba features a bright pink flower and was previously thought to fall under the Phebalium nottii species.

The discovery came about when Paul Sheringham, a rare-plant expert working for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, collected what was thought to be Phebalium nottii north of Grafton, NSW.

However, botanists at the UNE N.C.W. Beadle Herbarium believed it could in fact be an undescribed species.

“Phebalium banyabba forms a lovely shrub less than two metres tall and is covered with stunning pink and rusty flowers in late winter through spring,” said Emeritus Professor Jeremy Bruhl, who described the new species together with Dr Ian Telford.

Molecular work by then PhD student Dr Sangay Dema confirmed the morphological distinctiveness of the samples.

“The specimen featured densely hairy calyces with distinctive dendroidal hairs, larger calyx lobes, and larger seeds compared to related species,” said Dr Telford.

Following the discovery, the team at the N.C.W. Beadle Herbarium collaborated with Mr Sheringham to locate additional populations and better understand the species' distribution and threats.

“The species has only been found in two locations, with fewer than 1,000 individual plants found in the wild,” said Mr Sheringham.

“We found 466 plants in one location and 502 mature plants in a second. These low numbers are likely due to threats such as the species’ restricted distribution, too frequent fire, drought, cattle grazing, and the species' dependence on seed regeneration rather than resprouting after fire.”

The species bears the Bandjalang First Nations people's name for the region it’s endemic to, and its formal publication facilitates its listing as a Threatened Species under NSW legislation.

“Collaborations such as this can contribute to scientific knowledge, threatened plant and biodiversity conservation, and inform government programs such as Saving our Species,” said Professor Bruhl.

Emeritus Professor Bruhl and horticultural staff at the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) have already propagated P. banyabba to better understand its cultivation requirements.

It has now been incorporated into the ANBG’s living collection, with plans to introduce the species to the horticultural trade to reduce the incentive for illegal collection from the wild.

A comprehensive revision of the broader Phebalium nottii complex is currently underway at the N.C.W. Beadle Herbarium.

The research has been published in Telopea, Journal of Plant Systematics, Botanic Gardens of Sydney.

Please view the published journal article via the PDF on this page: https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/TEL/article/view/21637 (the DOI is not currently working).