Man 'hit the jackpot' with rare find in Aussie bush after 86 years
A native plant thought to be extinct for over 86 years has been rediscovered, and the Aussie scientists who stumbled upon it during a rare bloom admit they were "super lucky" to be in the right place at the right time.
The "elusive bush-pea" had long lived up to its name until Robert T Miller, an experienced botanist, was out on field work recently with colleagues west of Wollongong in New South Wales. They were searching through the "swampy habitat" in the Upper Nepean State Conservation Area as part of the state government's Saving our Species (SoS) program when he spotted a flower in bloom.
"That one plant being in flower caught Rob's eye," Simon Lee from SOS told Yahoo News. "It was super lucky. We went back a couple of weeks later to collect a bunch of seed and the plant was no longer in flower, so it was pretty hard to find."
Robert sensed he had "hit the jackpot" when he made the discovery, and when the plant was confirmed as the elusive bush-pea, the scientists were "jumping in joy" as the first and last time it was recorded was back in 1938.
Since the rediscovery in October, 222 of the plants have been located and 790 seeds collected in the area — situated less than 50 kilometres from where the first ever discovery was made.
"We're obviously very excited... it just shows the significance of conservation programs and the efforts across the country that lead to these really remarkable discoveries," Simon said. "I was really grateful to be out there with Rob at the time and it shows the importance of these areas, and what they can hold."
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The elusive bush-pea (scientific name pultenaea elusa) is a small plant with branches up to 50 centimetres long, and it is easily overlooked among the grass swamp-like habitat where it grows.
There are now extensive efforts into re-establishing the "rare" plant which is currently listed as critically endangered in the state. A Project Officer from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services, Alison Foster, said authorities are "committed to zero extinctions of plants and animals" and conservation programs like the SoS helps them meet this target.
"Being able to quickly respond to this find with more field surveys enabled us to collect seed to help secure the future of this elusive plant," Foster said.
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