Species of the month – Avenue Cassinia

Avenue Cassinia (Cassinia tegulata) is Critically Endangered in Australia, endemic to South Australia and south-west Victoria, and has been a focus of NGT actions since 2015 including pre-planting and post-planting work to establish new populations in 2016.

Cassinia tegulata in full bloom at Blackford, South Australia (Photo: Bryan Haywood).

In 2017 NGT undertook a trial burn of one of the established populations at Bull Island, Avenue. The burn promoted germination of a new cohort, and increased plant numbers. This has encouraged us to continue management burning so remnant populations of this species get appropriate disturbances for recruitment, so they can thrive. The results of this work will soon be published in Australasian Plant Conservation.

In 2019, I’ve been doing the paperwork and applying for permits to do an important burn along a roadside. In May the Blackford translocation site was a “sea of colour” with abundant flowering of planted Cassinia. Check it out in the video below. We thank OneFortyOne Plantations for their financial support allowing us to continue this important work. Keep it up Cassinia tegulata!