A Guide to Threatened, Near Threatened and Data Deficient Plants in the Litchfield Shire of the Northern Territory Jarrad Holmes, Deborah Bisa, Audrey Hill and Beth Crase © WWF-Australia. All rights reserved. ISBN: 1 875941 85 1 Authors: Jarrad Holmes, Deborah Bisa, Audrey Hill, Beth Crase WWF-Australia Head office Level 13, 235 Jones St Ultimo NSW 2007 Tel: +612 9281 5515 Fax: +612 9281 1060 www.wwf.org.au First published May 2005 by WWF-Australia. Reprinted with minor edits by WWF-Australia in 2007. Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must mention the title and credit the above-mentioned publisher as the copyright owner. For bibliographic purposes this report should be cited as: Holmes, J., Bisa, D., Hill, A, and Crase, B. 2005. A Guide to Threatened, Near Threatened and Data Deficient Plants in the Litchfield Shire of the Northern Territory. WWF-Australia,Sydney. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of WWF. Editorial comments: Raelee Kerrigan, Judy Egan and Ian Cowie Reprinted by Uniprint NT, Darwin, on FSC-certified paper. Cover images: Landscape — Jacinda Brown, Commelina flower — NT Herbarium Ptychosperma macarthurii — S M Taylor, Byblis aquatica — Jacinda Brown. For copies of this book please contact WWF-Australia at [email protected] or call 1800 032 551. WWF-Australia ABN: 57 001 594 074 A Guide to Threatened, Near Threatened and Data Deficient Plants in the Litchfield Shire of the Northern Territory Jarrad Holmes, Deborah Bisa, Audrey Hill and Beth Crase ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This publication was produced by the Threatened Species Network, a community-based program of the Australian Government and WWF-Australia. The authors would like to thank the Top End Native Plant Society for their continual interest, support and the financial contribution to help with printing costs. We would also like to thank the Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment and The Arts Herbarium for access to plant specimens, literature and information regarding conservation status. In particular we would like to thank Raelee Kerrigan, Ian Cowie and Judy Egan for all of their help in bringing this book together. We would like to thank Karen Cook and Charles Stevens (WWF), and our printers Uniprint NT (reprint) for assisting with the production process. Thanks also to Dr David Liddle for reading an earlier draft of this book and providing valuable input. We are also grateful for the continual interest and support from the Northern Territory Field Naturalists Club and the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory. The descriptive information used in this book was mainly drawn from the following: Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission Threatened Species Fact Sheet Series, The Northern Territory Herbarium electronic database (Holtze), Cowie (2003), Dunlop (1995), Jones (1993), Taylor (1989) and numerous volumes of the Flora of Australia Series produced by the Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Water Resources. Texts are cited in full in the reference section. Thank you to all of the following individuals who offered photographs and sketches of plants for this publication: Deborah Bisa, John Bolger, Kym Brennan, Jacinda Brown, Greg Calvert, Tony Camilleri, Russell Dempster, Clyde Dunlop, Lesley Elkan, Don Fortescue, Don Franklin, Bruce Gray, Laurie Jessup, David Jones, Bill Lavarack, Allen Lowrie, Barbara McKaige, Hans Nooteboom, Monica Osterkamp Madsen, Joyce Stobo, Steve Taylor and Glenn Wightman. Thank you also to the NT Herbarium, Qld Herbarium, WA Herbarium, NSW Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian National Herbarium and the journals Telopea, Nuytsia, Flora Malesiana, Austrobaileya, and the Australian Plant Society NSW for providing images, figures and assistance in general. ............... i WWF-Australia CONTENTS Acknowledgments i Foreword iii Introduction 1 Who this publication is for 2 The Litchfield Shire 3 Identifying plants using this book 4 Plant descriptions 5 Management issues within the Litchfield Shire 62 Land clearing for horticulture, rural and urban development 63 Mining 64 Introduction of weeds and feral animals 64 Changing fire regimes 65 Changing groundwater resources 66 Community involvement 67 How conservation status is assigned to a species 68 Collecting and preserving plant specimens 70 Glossary 73 Habitat photos 73 Botanical terms 74 Illustrations of botanical terms 78 References 81 Useful contacts 84 Field notes 86 Index of plant names 93 ............... WWF-Australia ii FOREWORD The Litchfield Shire is endowed with a surprisingly rich mosaic of vegetation communities. At first glance the landscape appears cloaked in a homogenous savanna woodland of Woolybutt, Stringbark and Spear Grass. On closer inspection the variety in the country becomes apparent; from rocky outcrops and low hills through rainforest to seasonally inundated herb- fields, coastal floodplains fringed with patches of paperbarks and mangroves. Adding to this patchwork, the vegetation reflects a variety of fire histories, along with seasonal variation from the wet to dry. For the interested observer the extreme seasonal variation means there is a continually changing parade of annual plants. On top of this seasonal cycle there are permanent changes wrought by people through expanding rural development in the Shire. Along with the obvious fragmentation of native vegetation that comes with land clearing, there are changes that are less obvious to the casual observer. The uncontrolled spread of exotic pasture grasses is producing fires hotter than would occur with fuel composed of native species. These hot fires pose a significant threat to the over-storey trees. Situated on the coast in a region that receives the highest rainfall of the Northern Territory mainland, the Shire supports a regionally significant mosaic of rainforests that illustrate the interconnected nature of the landscape. Plant populations in these small patches are dependent upon fruit eating birds and bats to transport seeds and pollen. Conversely, the birds and bats are dependent upon the rainforests for food. The perennially moist rainforests are also dependent upon the adjacent savanna uplands. The surrounding savanna allows wet season rains to permeate the soil and replenish the groundwater supplies that feed permanent springs, which in turn support the rainforests. There are numerous connections in the landscape that can be inadvertently broken with inappropriate and often irreversible decisions about land use. Wise land use decisions need to be underpinned by both good knowledge and a society that cares about the landscape. This book addresses both of those needs. For the first time we have a comprehensive statement of current knowledge in a convenient, well presented format that will undoubtedly inspire land owners and others to take note of these floral gems in our local landscape. The challenge for all of us now is to build on the excellent work contained herein to improve our collective knowledge and manage the landscape for today and for the future. Dr David Liddle Ptychosperma macarthurii Recovery Team Member Former President of the Top End Native Plant Society ............... iii WWF-Australia INTRODUCTION Increasingly, people are becoming interested in learning more about the plants that occur in their local area. For a surprising number of species occurring in the Litchfield Shire there is currently little accessible information. This publication is intended to encourage, educate and help the community to contribute valuable information on the status of our lesser known and threatened plants by assisting in identifying and recording plant species. This publication does not attempt to provide descriptions of all the plants of conservation concern found in the region, and it is not intended to replace more comprehensive guides such as those listed in the reference section of this publication. The Northern Territory is rich in plant diversity, with 4,213 native species and 380 introduced species recorded on the NT Herbarium database as of February 2004. Of these, 1,259 species (including 128 introduced species) are recorded as occurring within the boundaries of the Litchfield Shire. Three species described in this book (Typhonium taylori, Cynanchum leibianum and Utricularia sp. red ) are believed to be endemic to the Shire, which means they are found nowhere else in the world. Two threatened species, Ptychosperma macarthurii and Cycas armstrongii, although not endemic to the Shire, have a considerable portion of their range within the Shire. A further 117 species known from the Shire are either endemic to the NT or, within Australia, do not occur outside of the NT. There are eight plant species that are found within the Shire that are listed as Threatened under NT legislation, seven of which are described in this book (Freycinetia excelsa is not included as it is a recent addition). A further five threatened species with known populations slightly beyond the Shire’s boundaries have also been included. The habitat that these five species occupy suggests that they may occur in the Shire but to date have not been recorded there. This book also includes a selection of species that are of ‘conservation concern’, referring to plants for which limited information is available (formally listed as Data Deficient) or plants that have been formally listed as Near Threatened.