Rarity and Conservation

To be rare is to be valuable.  Despite the advice of ecologists and field biologists that the emphasis for conservation should be shifted from individual rare species to that of ecosystems, and from specific threatening processes to those that are wide-ranging, the rare species still holds a pre-eminent position in conservation research and application.  International, national and state organisations (both inside and outside of governments) produce lists in which individual species, whose long-term survival may be at risk, hold the most significant position.  The best known of these organisations, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has a huge range of projects which target threatening processes, ecosystem management and interaction of human and natural communities.  But it is their Red List of Threatened Species which has attracted the most attention and has been embraced by the public.

Victoria has its own list of rare and threatened species but, as with any classification procedure, there is some variation within this general theme.  Some species are rare but not considered to be threatened, some are threatened but not particularly rare, some may be rare and threatened but there is debate as to whether they are really distinct enough to be called a species in the first place.  The following short list is designed to cover a range of types of rare plants in Victoria with a view to examining some issues concerning their classification.

Trochocarpa clarkei A typical rare plant
Trochocarpa clarkei is a low, sprawling shrub which often grows near the bases of snow gums in sub-alpine woodland. [more]		 Spiranthes australis A plant that became rare unnoticed
Spiranthes australis is a slender ground orchid with small pink and white flowers arranged in a spiral along the stem [more] 
Pimelea spinescens A rare plant that was once common Pimelea spinescens is a small, compact shrub which grows in lowland grasslands in central and western Victoria. [more] Crinum flaccidum Rare in Victoria, common elsewhere
Crinum flaccidum is lily of floodplains of the Murray-Darling Basin.  It has fleshy, strap-like leaves and large white flowers [more] 
Borya mirabilis A plant that has always been rare
Borya mirabilis is a small, clumped lily with clusters of stiff, narrow leaves and white flowers [more]		 Caladenia ornata A beautiful rare plant
Caladenia ornata is a small, pink-flowered ground orchid of woodlands and heathlands of eastern Victoria.[more] 
Amyema linophylla A rare plant that relies on others
Amyema linophylla is a mistletoe which is parasitic principally on two species of leafless tree [more]		 Eucalyptus aggregata A rare plant a long way from home 
Eucalyptus aggregata is a medium-sized tree with a sparse canopy and fissured bark.[more]
Persoonia arborea A rare plant that is locally abundant
Persoonia arborea is a medium-sized shrub with thick-textured leaves, pale yellow flowers [more] 		 Acacia oswaldii A rare plant once but not now
Acacia oswaldii is a dense, medium to large shrub of woodlands in low rainfall areas of Victoria [more]
Eucalyptus litoralis A rare plant that may not exist
Eucalyptus litoralis is a small, crooked tree with rough bark on the trunk and finer bark on the branches.. [more] 		 Tetratheca stenocarpa A rare plant where a botanist lives
Tetratheca stenocarpa is a slender, almost leafless shrub, to 1m tall with sprays of pale purple, pink or white flowers [more]
Eucalyptus crenulata A rare plant common in cultivation
Eucalyptus crenulata is a small, crooked tree with dense blue-green foliage, and rough, fissured bark. [more]		 Trianthema triquetra A rare plant that could be a weed
Trianthema triquetra is a prostrate herb, with small fleshy leaves, tiny white flowers and globular red fruits. [more]