Nomination no.
841
FLORA AND FAUNA GUARANTEE - SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE
FINAL RECOMMENDATION ON A NOMINATION FOR LISTING
Xanthorrhoea glauca subsp. angustifolia D.J. Bedford – Grey Grass-tree
Date of receipt of nomination:
5 February 2013
Date of preliminary recommendation: 9 May 2013
Date of final recommendation:
16 October 2013
Validity:
The nomination is for a valid item.
Prescribed Information:
The prescribed information was provided.
File No.: FF/54/3492
Name of the Nominator is adequately provided.
Name of the Item is adequately provided.
The nominated taxon is accepted by the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) as a valid taxon because it has been
formally described and it is accepted as a valid taxon by the National Herbarium of Victoria.
The Grey Grass-tree is commonly a conspicuous plant of striking appearance, up to six metres tall, with a trunk-like, often
aerially-branched stem and spreading crown(s) of long, grey or bluish linear pointed leaves, and dead leaves usually persisting
to form a dense skirt around the stem. The stem has secondary meristem thickening and extrudes a resinous material, red in
colour, at the leaf bases and stem apex. Both vegetative and reproductive growth occurs almost entirely from the apical
meristem(s). The inflorescence is a massive spike packed with dense bracts between the individual bisexual flowers, and each
spike is capable of producing copious amounts of seed. Sometimes, though, a plant may be largely subterranean, with only the
leaves and flowering parts above ground.
The Grey Grass-tree was once widely distributed and relatively abundant across northern and north-central Victoria, largely
in stringybark/box woodlands and forests, often growing with Eucalyptus macrorhyncha and Brachyloma daphnoides on
sandstone, granitic and metamorphic geologies, and on some Tertiary sedimentary deposits where soils are severely nutrientdeficient. Its distribution is now highly fragmented, with scattered, very small populations in remnant forest patches and in
farmland.
Eligibility for listing as a taxon under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee
The nominated item satisfies at least one criterion of the set of criteria prepared and maintained under Section 11 of the Flora
and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, and stated in Schedule 1 of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Regulations 2011.
Evidence that criteria are satisfied:
Sub-criterion 1.2.1 The taxon is very rare in terms of abundance or distribution.
Evidence:
The Grey Grass-tree is widely distributed across northern and central Victoria; however, this is an artefact of its former
distribution. Being a very large species of interest to the public, the distributional information and understanding is
relatively excellent compared to less known and smaller taxa. Very small populations of the taxon in forested areas
surrounded by kilometres of landscape where the taxon is absent are known on both public and private land (Bellette
2009). This knowledge of distribution gives a false impression of state-wide abundance – many of these populations are
at risk of extinction due to current threatening processes, and lack of recruitment.
Sub-criterion 1.2.3. The reproduction or recruitment of the taxon has seriously declined or is not occurring.
Evidence:
Studies suggest that recruitment and survivorship of the seedlings to a young adult age of Grey Grass-tree are in serious
decline, indeed both of these stages are absent in some populations of aged individuals. Bellette (2009) and Curtis (2003)
studied this lack of recruitment and suggest that the loss of adults due to both prescribed fire regimes and Phytophthora
cinnamomi is causing a serious irreversible decline in the potential for recruitment in many populations. This is due
largely to the taxon having no other mechanism for seed storage to ensure success during climatic episodes suitable for
reproduction when faced with high adult mortality due to threatening processes. It is also important to note that fire
NOMINATION NO. 841
frequency also impacts the survival of seedlings and their ability to reach a flowering age. Seedling establishment of this
taxon occurs between fires in unburnt vegetation.
Additional Information
Grey Grass-tree has been identified as a ‘key response species’ for estimating ‘time-since-fire’ in box-ironbark habitats in
Victoria (Tolsma et al. 2007).
Advertisement for public comment
In accordance with the requirements of Section 14 of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, the preliminary
recommendation was advertised for a period of at least 30 days.
The preliminary recommendation was advertised in:
‘The Herald Sun - on 19 June 2013
‘The Weekly Times’ - on 19 June 2013
‘The Wangaratta Chronicle’ - on 19 June 2013
Government Gazette - on 20 June 2013
Submissions closed on 26 July 2013
Further evidence provided:
Eight (8) submissions were received on this item but no evidence was provided to warrant a review of the Scientific Advisory
Committee's preliminary recommendation that the taxon is eligible for listing. Indeed several submission added further
information that strengthened the case for listing.
Final Recommendation of the Scientific Advisory Committee
The Scientific Advisory Committee concludes that on the evidence available the nominated item is eligible for listing in
accordance with Section 11(1) of the Act because sub-criteria 1.2.1 and 1.2.3 have been satisfied.
The Scientific Advisory Committee makes a final recommendation that the nominated item be supported for listing under the
Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.
Selected references:
Bedford, D. J. (1986) Xanthorrhoea in Flora of Australia, Volume 46: Iridaceae to Dioscoreaceae. A. S. George. Australian
Government Publishing Service, Canberra. pp: 165-226.
----------------- (1988) Towards a natural classification – taxonomy and evolution of Xanthorrhoea. PhD Thesis School of
Biological Sciences, University of Sydney.
Bellette, M. P. (2009) The biogeography and ecology of Xanthorrhoea glauca subsp. angustifolia in south-eastern Australia.
PhD Thesis, University of Melbourne.
Conn, B. J. (1994) Xanthorrhoeaceae . in Flora of Victoria: Fern and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons. Vol. 2:
731-733, N. G. Walsh and T. J Entwisle (Eds). Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.
Curtis, P. (2003) An ecological study of Xanthorrhoea australis. R. Br. PhD Thesis, School of Life Sciences, La Trobe
University, Bundoora.
Tolsma, A., Cheal, D. & Brown, G. (2007) Ecological burning in Box-Ironbark Forests: Phase 2 - Management Strategy.
Report to North Central Management Authority. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Heidelberg.
Endorsement by the Convenor of the Scientific Advisory Committee
Date
23 October 2013
SIGNED BY
____________________________
Assoc. Prof David Morgan
Convenor
2