Securing Rare Seed from Melaleuca triumphalis
The Australian Seed Bank Partnership headed bush to add the rare Melaleuca triumphalis to a valuable conservation collection
By Australian Seed Bank Partnership
George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens
Step back in time
The year is 1855 and botanist Ferdinand von Mueller has just set off to explore the Northern Territory. The group of 18 men, led by Sir Augustus Charles Gregory, sailed from Moreton Bay in southern Queensland around the top of Australia to the Victoria River estuary.
The Australian exploring expedition travelling through scrub (from the Illustrated London News 1879) (1876) by Jesse YoungNational Portrait Gallery
19th century expedition
They followed the Victoria River until it disappeared into the desert. Traipsing almost 500 kilometres along the river they mapped the area, marking roads and stock routes while looking for minerals.
21st century expedition
Fast forward 141 years, another expedition set out in the same area to commemorate these early explorers. This group came across a species that had not been described by Western science, the Melaleuca triumphalis.
Shaggy shrub?
Reaching a maximum height of 2.5 metres, this tree looks more like a shrub with its shaggy, silver leaves. The flowers appear in September and change from green to yellow as they age.
Melaleuca triumphalis cream/ pink flowers. (2019) by Marjorie KingAustralian Seed Bank Partnership
Climate change danger
Climate change has the potential to affect the future reproductive ecology of this species, so research is needed to support its ongoing survival in the Northern Territory.
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Intrepid botanists
With the species known to occur in only one location a new team of intrepid botanists from the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens decided to revisit the population. Their aim was to ensure seeds of this tree species be collected and banked as soon as possible.
Seeding success
Luckily for Melaleuca triumphalis the expedition was a great success with the team collecting sufficient seeds in 2019, securing a valuable conservation collection of this rare tree species.
Global Tree Seed Bank Project
Seeds from Melaleuca triumphalis and other threatened tree species, from the Northern Territory are being securely stored at the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens and duplicate collections are held at the Millennium Seed Bank in the UK.
Learn more about the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens via their website.
Stories compiled through a science communication internship at the Australian Seed Bank Partnership with Master of Science Communication student Christine Fernance from the ANU Centre for the Public Awareness of Science.
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