Project Summary
A large number of people are interested in using native plants in gardening and/or revegetation programs. However, due to unavailability and lack of information on native plants, they often end up using exotic species.
This project has enabled the collection of seeds of over 800 native species and provenances from different parts of Central Queensland. These seeds were tested for germination with or without seed treatments, and soon after collection and following storage for up to two years. The data of seed germination and storage, as well as the images (c. 1000) of herbarium specimens and seeds have been placed on the Website (http://seedbank.cqu.edu.au), so that the native plant users can access this information by the press of a button. An email discussion list ‘aussieplants@cqu.edu.au’ has also been established to stimulate exchange of information on native species.
Table 1. Number of seeds collected and the germination properties of native plants of Central Queensland
|
Parameter |
|
|
Number of seedlots collected |
802 |
|
Number of families being represented by these seedlots |
c. 42* |
|
Number of genera being represented by these seedlots |
c. 72 |
|
Number of seedlots used in germination tests |
588 |
|
Average germination (%) |
32.1 |
|
Median (%) |
16.6 |
*Names of some seedlots are yet to be established.
Figure 1. Frequency distribution of germination percentage of 588 seedlots
