THREATENED SPECIES SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Established under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The Minister deleted this species from the endangered category effective from 16 September 2015.

Listing Advice Phaius tancarvilleae

Taxonomy Phaius tancarvilleae is a swamp orchid that was described by Banks in 1788 (as Limodorum tancarvilleae) from cultivated material that originally arrived in Europe from southern in 1778 (Clements and Jones, 2008; CHAH, 2014).

There has always been confusion regarding the Australian distribution of Phaius tancarvilleae. Some authors treated it as synonymous with P. australis (as P. grandifolius (Nicholls, 1950, cited in Benwell, 1994) or as P. tancarvilleae (Rupp, 1943, cited in Benwell, 1994)), whereas others treated it as naturally restricted to north-east (Benwell, 1994) or naturally occurring along the east coast but locally extinct in NSW (NSW NPWS, 1998). Globally, the species occurs in an area bounded by Myanmar, China, Japan and (Clements and Jones, 2006).

Jones (1999, pers. comm., cited in Department of the Environment, 2015) examined herbarium collections and confirmed that P. tancarvilleae herbarium records from south-east Queensland and north-east NSW were actually P. australis. More recently, Phaius tancarvilleae is treated as an exotic that is common in cultivation in (Clements and Jones, 2008). Many of these collections are often believed to be of Australian origin, but there are no known collections from the wild to support these claims (Clements and Jones, 2008). Phaius tancarvilleae is now excluded from the NSW flora census (The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, 2014), the Queensland flora census (Queensland Herbarium, 2013) and the Australian Census (CHAH, 2010).

Swamp orchid populations that may have been considered to be Phaius tancarvilleae are actually P. amboinensis, P. australis or P. bernaysii (CHAH, 2010). The latter two species are listed as endangered under Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

Reason for conservation assessment by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee Phaius tancarvilleae is listed as endangered. This species is eligible for listing as endangered under the EPBC Act as, prior to the commencement of the EPBC Act, it was listed as endangered under Schedule 1 of the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 (Cwlth). It is also listed as endangered under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (New South Wales). This assessment is due to current information on Phaius tancarvilleae, stating the species is no longer considered a valid taxon.

Public consultation Notice of the proposed amendment and the reasons was made available for public comment for 46 business days between 24 November 2014 and 30 January 2015. No comments were received.

Assessment of available information in relation to the EPBC Act Criteria and Regulations and consideration for delisting As identified in the taxonomic discussion provided above, Phaius tancarvilleae is no longer considered to be a valid taxon and is not eligible for listing in any category.

Consideration for delisting As Phaius tancarvilleae is not considered to be a valid species, delisting is not expected to have any negative impacts.

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Recommendations

(i) The Committee recommends that the list referred to in section 178 of the EPBC Act be amended by deleting from the list in the endangered category:

Phaius tancarvilleae

The Committee notes that this species is eligible for delisting due to taxonomic change.

Threatened Species Scientific Committee 3 November 2014

References cited in the advice Benwell AS (1994). Swamp Orchids - Phaius australis, Phaius tancarvilleae Recovery Plan. Hurstville: New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Clements MA and Jones DL (2008). Australian Orchid Name Index. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research / Australian National Herbarium.

Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH) (2010). Australian Plant Census. Integrated Biodiversity Information System, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Australian National Herbarium.

Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH) (2014). Australian Plant Name Index. Integrated Biodiversity Information System, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Australian National Herbarium. Viewed: 15 October 2014 Available on the Internet: http://www.cpbr.gov.au/cpbr/databases/apni-search-full.html

Department of the Environment (2015). Phaius australis in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Canberra. Viewed: 20 January 2015 Available on the Internet: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat

New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NSW NPWS) (1998). Swamp Orchids (Phaius australis and P. tancarvilleae) Draft Recovery Plan. Hurstville: NSW NPWS

Queensland Herbarium (2013). Census of the Queensland Flora 2013. Bostock PD and Holland AE (eds). Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts: Brisbane, Queensland. Viewed: 2 July 2014 Available from the Internet: https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/census-of-the-queensland-flora-2013

The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust (2014). PlantNET. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia (version 2). Viewed: 15 October 2014 Available on the Internet: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au

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