WA’s rarest orchid the Queen of Sheba added to critically endangered list

Twenty-five plants, five reptiles, one marsupial, a fish, an insect and a mollusc were added to Australia’s threatened species list this month, including one of the world’s rarest orchids. On February 6, the Federal Government revealed 34 new editions to the ever-expanding list, with several WA plants making the list including the Elegant Tinsel Lily, a species of sundew and a South West shrub. A notable addition to the list was WA’s iconic Queen of Sheba orchid — renowned for being one of the rarest flowers in the world. WA Native Orchid Study and Conservation Group coordinator Kevin Uhe was the driving force behind the iconic orchid’s re-listing who said populations have likely been declining since colonisation. Mr Uhe said there were several factors putting pressure on the Queen of Sheba which had likely led to its decline, including grazing by fauna, prescribed burns in the wrong season, plant poaching and climate change. “As an iconic orchid it is on most people’s wish list and the high volume of visitation results in soil compaction, trampling of small non flowering leaves, degradation of the surrounding protective bushes,” he said. Mr Uhe said it was hard to know how widespread the orchid was historically, with data only available as far back as early 1900 to 1947 in areas which are now all under houses. “Unfortunately in those days plant numbers were not recorded, just the location which is also rather vague,” he said. “It was first collected back in 1838 from a vague location of Swan River but certainly was recorded in areas around the Perth Coastal Plain.” Mr Uhe said the push to list the orchid came after the plant was officially split into three unique species, a northern, eastern and southern variety with only the eastern species still abundant. He said it was possible the rare plant could be found in a remote patch of bush in the future, but if there were any major strongholds they would likely have already been found. “Plants do not flower every year and may exist in areas that have not been searched,” he said. Australian Conservation Foundation national nature campaigner Jess Abrahams said the extraordinarily coloured orchids were once common from Perth to Capel but were now considered critically endangered. “Bulldozing for agriculture and urban sprawl has significantly reduced their habitat and now only three isolated sub-populations are known about — some scientists believe as few as 27 adult plants survive in the wild,” he said. “This is heartbreaking.” Mr Abrahams said ongoing threats to the plant, combined with their long life cycles — 10 to 12 years — dependency on underground fungal networks and their sensitivity to disturbance put these critically endangered orchids at high risk of extinction. “It’s hard to comprehend, but Australia continues to destroy the precious plants and animals that make our country so unique,” he said. Optimistically, Mr Uhe said the State’s recovery efforts at Kings Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Victoria were progressing very well. “Orchids, by their nature, are very complex with their association with mycorrhizal fungi which requires isolation of the preferred fungi and also their association with attracting pollinators through floral mimicry,” he said. “I am very confident that the current recovery efforts will lead to reintroduction of plants into the wild to help augment the existing populations. “There is no quick fix but good progress is being made to help conserve this and other orchid species.”