Extracted from the Director of National Parks and Wildlife Annual Report 1991 - 1992

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS

Annual Report 1991-1992

The Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) occupies 90 hectares on the lower slopes of Black Mountain in Canberra, together with 80 hectares at Jervis Bay in an annexe known as the Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens.

The ANBG was proclaimed as a reserve under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 on 17 September 1991. The immediate result of proclamation was that for the first time since the ANBG was established, all the collections now have legal protection.

An amendment to the above Act was passed on 7 May 1992 which clarified its applicability to botanic gardens. This defined a botanic garden and set down the objectives of botanic gardens for the purposes of management.

Proclamation not only provided legal protection for collections but also required the preparation of a plan of management for the ANBG. This commenced in January 1992 with the issue of notices and a brochure inviting public comment. Forty-eight representations were received and will be taken into account during preparation of the plan. The draft plan is expected to be available for further public comment in early 1993 with the final document coming into effect in mid 1993.

During the year, the Minister invited a number of community representatives to join an Advisory Committee to advise the Chief Executive Officer on the development and effective implementation of the plan of management and on other matters relevant to the ANBG. The Executive Director of the ANBG acts as Executive Officer to the Committee which met for the first time on 27-28 May 1992. The list of members of the Advisory Committee is at Appendix B.

The ANBG is organised in three sections: Living Collections, Botany and Visitor Services.

Living Collections

Aim Develop scientific collections and produce high quality horticultural displays of
Australian and related flora at the Gardens in Canberra and Jervis Bay.

The Living Collections Section maintains about 81 000 plants representing more than 5 900 taxa. This is about one third of the vascular plants recorded for Australia. Collections are held in open ground plantings, permanent pot collections, and in glasshouses.

Planted	No. of taxa	No. of specimens
Outdoors, Canberra	3 750	66 000
Under glass, Canberra	1 200	6 000
Permanent pots, Canberra	1 800	5 000
Jervis Bay Gardens	1 350	14 500

 

Gardens

Development of the living collections continued with the following major field trips:

• to collect plants from the Rylstone area for the Sydney Basin Flora section;
• to the Grampians to acquire specimens for the Rock Garden;
• to semi-arid areas of Victoria to collect mallee species; and
• several one-day trips were made in the Canberra and Jervis Bay areas for the Southern Tablelands Woodland section, and the Monocotyledon sections respectively.

A table showing all field work undertaken is at page 39.

In the Jervis Bay Garden, collections of heath plants, palms and cycads and sedges were expanded. The ‘devolution’ of the permanent pot collection from the nursery continued with construction of two new raised beds. These will accommodate up to 200 plants from the permanent pot collection in better growth conditions and it is intended to treat as many as are amenable to this culture method.

The cool room for the Macquarie Island collections was completed providing much better conditions for these plants. Plans are being made to expand this collection with other species from Macquarie and also Heard Island.

The Tasmanian collection was further expanded with material from both field collections and a repropagation program in the nursery. The hard landscaping for the Tasmanian Garden continued this year with the construction of pools and placement of rocks.

Monitoring, maintenance and repropagation of the endangered species collection continued and the list of holdings now exceeds 80 species.

Training and assistance with propagation was given to the Jervis Bay National Park in connection with rehabilitation work.

Development

As part of the process to produce a plan of management, a Development Planning Guide was commissioned for the Canberra site. The Guide proposes developments to rationalise existing site functions and eliminate a number of site problems in the core precinct; it will also assist in the siting of proposed features for the present gardens and planning of development of the southern precinct.

The Environmental Education Centre was completed and fitted out. Landscaping around the Centre commenced in preparation for an opening early next financial year. A major extension to the carpark was commenced to provide additional car and coach parking facilities and a bus shelter near the coach set-down points.

The carpark at the Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens was completed and an information shelter erected. A submersible pump has been installed, and the Green Hut upgraded to improve its function as a display facility. Paths were extended (400m total), several footbridges constructed and a hexagonal seat built near the Green Hut.

The Australian Cultivar Registration Authority

The Australian Cultivar Registration Authority registers names of cultivars that arise from the Australian flora. The membership of the Authority consists of representatives of each major State botanic gardens, the nursery industry, the Society for Growing Australian Plants (SGAP) and a number of private individuals. A list of members is at Appendix B. Sixteen new cultivars, five of which were kangaroo paws, were registered at the 1991 annual meeting.

Cultivars Registered In 1991-92

Cultivar	Registered by
Actinodium cunninghamii ‘Snowflake’	Kings Park and Botanic Garden, WA
Anigozanthos ‘Autumn Sunrise’	Perth Zoo Social Club, WA
Anigozanthos ‘Hickman’s Delight’	Perth Zoo Social Club, WA
Anigozanthos ‘Little Jewel’	Mr K R Oliver, WA
Anigozanthos ‘Rogue Radiance’	Perth Zoo Social Club, WA
Boronia ‘Carousel’	Yellow Rock Nature Reserve, NSW
Callistemon ‘Kempsey’	Kempsey Shire Council, NSW
Callistemon ‘Ngungun Red’	Mrs E J Morgan, Qld
Callistemon citrinus ‘Splendens’	ANBG, Canberra
Callistemon viminalis ‘Dawson River Weeper’	Tree and Shrub Growers of Victoria
Crowea ‘Pink Blush’	Bindelong Nursery, Vic
Grevillea ‘Orange Marmalade’	Mr R Brown, NSW
Grevillea ‘Winpara Gold’	P & B Bartlett, SA
Leptospermum ‘Pink Cascade’	Mr G Logan, NSW
Leptospermum nitidum ‘Copper Sheen’	ANBG, Canberra
Macropidia fuliginosa ‘No Black’	Mr J Hickman, WA

 

The Australian Network for Plant Conservation

The Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC) was successfully established in September 1991 with the national office at the ANBG. This was a landmark event in the ANBG’s on-going work with rare or threatened Australian plants. Membership of the Network at June 1992 stood at 84, drawn from public, corporate and private sectors.
The ANPC’s mission is to encourage, promote, advise on, and facilitate communication between integrated plant conservation efforts in Australia and the region. The ANPC is establishing a database and multi-site National Endangered Species Collection and organising workshops, training courses and conferences for its members. Three issues of the quarterly Newsletter were produced during the year. The first meeting of the ANPC Advisory Committee was held in May 1992. A list of Committee members is at Appendix B.

Botany

The Herbarium

Aims
• Develop and maintain to archival standard a collection of preserved plant
• specimens of the Australian and related flora, including introduced plants and those of the Australian Territories;
• Manage the databases of the Herbarium collections, the Australian Plant Name Index and the Census of Australian Vascular Plants; and
• Provide a plant identification and information service for internal and external clients.

Specimens held in the Herbarium:		223 239
Specimens added to the collection in 1991-92:		12 939
Specimens loaned to other institutions,	vascular:	543
	cryptogams:	2 303
Loans returned from other institutions,	vascular:	932
	cryptogams: •	295
Specimens donated by other institutions, vascular:	2 388
	cryptogams:	4 707
Specimens donated to other institutions,	vascular:	4 438
	cryptogams:	11 144

The Herbarium collections form the basis for the scientific documentation and authentication of the plants grown in the Gardens.

As a result of Herbarium curation activities, current names were applied to the Gardens’ cultivated plants and to Herbarium specimens. Major groups curated over the year included Asteraceae (in part), Persoonia (Proteaceae), Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae), and Leptospermum (Myrtaceae).

The first instalment of an exsiccati set of mosses of Australia, the External Territories, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea was issued. This is an annotated reference set, which will eventually be issued to 20 overseas herbaria.

The Herbarium received two donations from the Australian Orchid Foundation during the year, totalling $5 000. This assistance is being used to access and incorporate the considerable volume of specimens from non-institutional collectors attracted by the ANBG’s orchid research program.

During the year, 255 enquiries from the general public or outside bodies were serviced, involving 659 specimens. Development of the Public Access Herbarium (a self-help identification service covering plants of the ACT and south-eastern NSW) continued, and the Canberra set now comprises some 1 400 specimens. Data from all these specimens and their permanent vouchers have now been entered onto the IBIS database (see below). A similar public reference set of local plants at the Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens was also augmented and databased.

A five day course in plant identification was held at the Visitors Centre in October-November 1991, at the request of the SGAP Canberra Branch.

Following liaison with Comcare and relevant staff associations, the Herbarium instituted a community volunteer program to assist in some of its fundamental and labour-intensive tasks - primarily the mounting of specimens on permanent archival cardboard sheets. Ten volunteers have donated several hours per week over the year, and an average of 220 specimens per month have been mounted and archived.

Data and Information Processing

The Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS) is designed to capture, store and make available all types of botanical information relevant to the functions and management of the Gardens.

The Environmental Resources Information Network (ERIN) provided a grant of $42 000 to assist with the capturing of Herbarium specimen label information of strategic landcover plant groups (eg Eucalyptus, grasses, Casuarina, Chenopodiaceae). Additional resources were applied to the data entry effort with the result that by 30 June 1992 there were over 103 000 specimen records in the database; this represents about 45 per cent of the total Herbarium collection. The number of records increased by 55 414, over four times the expectation for the year.

During the year, IBIS staff began work with the ANPC to develop a database model for information associated with the conservation of rare and endangered plant taxa. The first layer of the model has been completed and will be implemented during the coming year. The ANPC information will be integrated
into the IBIS database.

In May 1992, the ANBG and ERIN co-hosted a workshop on herbarium data storage and interchange standards attended by representatives of State herbaria. This workshop built on agreements of previous workshops and took several major steps towards the free exchange of botanical data and information between institutions.

The ANBG has custodial responsibility for two major national datasets, the Census of Australian Vascular Plants and the Australian Plant Name Index. The former is a list of currently accepted plant names with distributional information; the latter is a list of all vascular plant names applicable to the Australian flora with details of typification and publication. Both these lists were combined in the IBIS database and the task of inserting synonymies was started with a grant for $10 000 from ERIN. The structure and standardisation of data in these datasets is a major activity.

Visitor Services

Aim Encourage people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to enjoy, learn about and understand the national collections of the Gardens, and to appreciate Australia’s plant heritage and its conservation.

Visitor Statistics

Visitors to the Gardens in Canberra:	351 600	(average for last 5 years; 360 100)
Visitors to the Information Centre:	149 500	(average for last 4 years 150 500)
Visitors to Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens:	48 600	(average for last 2 years:41 800)

A major activity during the year was the establishment of the Voluntary Guides service by the Friends of the ANBG. Training courses run by staff from all sections of the ANBG were held for one day a week over ten weeks. Twenty eight guides graduated from the course, taking their first public tours over Easter and by June 1992, the guides had taken visitors on 45 tours of the Gardens.

ANBG Information Centre

The Information Centre provided a seven days a week service for visitors, acting as a referral point for horticultural and botanical enquiries and giving general advice on features of the Gardens.

An introductory video produced by Film Australia for the Information Centre won the High Commendation Award at the Australian Corporate Educational and Training Video Awards ceremony.

The major display entitled Mallee, our neglected heritage remained in the Centre throughout the year. A special exhibition of plants from Macquarie Island was set up in a commercial refrigerator within the Centre. The publicity around the theme ‘Gardening in a Fridge’ helped to promote the Gardens’ interest in the flora of our island territories.

Education and Interpretation

The Education Service provided assistance to 12 300 students and their teachers from all parts of Australia during the year. The Service organised fifteen professional development courses and information evenings for teachers and coordinated the activities of nineteen work experience students throughout the Gardens.

Several displays prepared at the Gardens were sent to Wagga Wagga regional botanic gardens and a promotional display on the work of the Gardens was lent for exhibition at TAFE college libraries in the Canberra region.

The education kit Australian Plants at Risk was produced in conjunction with the Endangered Species Unit, and the kit Mallee was printed in its final form following assessment by teachers during the year.

A new series of educational materials for use by teachers visiting the Gardens was prepared. Using the theme ‘Discover !, a range of different topics were covered to aid the planning of school excursions.

The Australian National University supplied 24 microscopes for use by students at the ANBG as part of the increasing cooperation between the two institutions.

A range of information leaflets on the Gardens and different plant groups were prepared for sale from the Information Centre.

A Catalogue of Living Plants was produced as a booklet from data held in the IBIS database and has been supplied to all Australian botanic gardens.

A full list of ANBG and staff publications is at Appendix D.

Photographic Collection

The ANBG collection includes photographs of the Australian flora, a representative range of vegetation types, and pictorial records of developments at the Gardens. The collection is linked through the IBIS database to plant specimens vouchered in the Herbarium. Use of the collection by researchers, students and publishers is encouraged.

The collection continues to grow from photographs taken by staff in the Gardens and on field trips, and through donated photographs. The earlier records are being transferred from index-cards to the IBIS database. During the year about 900 photographs were added to the collection and data from 1100 index-cards were added to the database.

Photographs in collection:		Use of the collection in 1991-92:
Plant portraits	9 281	Borrowed for lectures	1 621
Vegetation and field photos	5 732	Duplicated for repeated use	153
Landscaping, educational etc	6 340	Released for publication	216

 

Field Work

Field trips were undertaken to collect material for planting, research, and for herbarium specimens.

Month	No Days	No Staff	Area	Purpose
July	21	2* + 1	Kimberly, Top End	Bryophytes and lichens
August	4	3	Jervis Bay , ACT	Public reference herbarium
Oct/Nov	10	2	Western Victoria	Mallee plants, Grampians
August	4	2* + 2	ACT	Bryophytes
August	1	2	Conimbla Nat Park , NSW	Orchidaceae
August	5	2	Werrikimbee Nat Park , NSW	General collecting
September	28	4	South West WA	Orchidaceae & cycads
December	4	3	Blue Mountains , NSW	Range of taxa
December	10	2	East Gipsland , Vic	Grevillea & Astrotricha
December	7	1	Coral Sea	Off shore island survey
December	1	2	Southern ACT	Leptospermum sp. nov.
December	1	2	Southern ACT	Eucalyptus latiuscula
December	1	2	Marulan, NSW	Orchidaceae
January	14	2	Cape York , QLD	Orchidaceae & clubmosses
January	1	2	Wentworth Falls , NSW	Orchidaceae
March	14	1	South Pacific islands	Botanic Gardens
March	1	2	Namadgi Nat Park , ACT	Orchidaceae
March	1	3* + 1	Wadbilliga Nat Park , ACT	Survey, esp. bryophytes
March	2	4* + 2	Bemboka, NSW	Floristic survey
March/April	35	1	Europe	Herb types, Orchid & Cycad
April	7	2* + 1	Tasmania	Cryptogams
April	2	2	Jervis Bay , ACT	Cyperaceae
April	1	2	Tidbinbilla Nat Park , ACT	Orchidaceae
April/May	29	4* + 2	Kimberly, Top End	Specific research groups
May	1	2	Clyde Mountain , NSW	Macrozamia
May	3	2	Tinderrys, NSW	General collecting
May	7	1	North NSW, South QLD	Orchidaceae & Macrozamia
June	10	1* + 1	Lord Howe Island	Bryophytes

* participants from other institutions