Pomaderris prunifolia (a shrub) population, Parramatta, Auburn, Strathfield and Bankstown local government areas - endangered population listing

The Scientific Committee, established by the Threatened Species Conservation Act, has made a Final Determination to list the population of Pomaderris prunifolia in the Parramatta, Auburn, Strathfield and Bankstown Local Government Areas as an Endangered Population on Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the Act. Listing of endangered populations is provided for by Part 2 of the Act.

NSW Scientific Committee - final determination

The Scientific Committee has found that:

1. Pomaderris prunifolia Fenzl. (Family Rhamnaceae) is described in the Flora of New South Wales (Volume 1, Harden 1990) as:

"Shrub 1-3 metres high, stems with rusty stellate hairs. Leaves ovate to oblong to more or less elliptic, 2-4cm long, 8-15mm wide, apex broadly acute; margins more or less toothed, upper surface very wrinkled, scabrous with simple hairs, rarely more or less glabrous; lower surface more or less rusty with stellate hairs. Flowers yellow, shortly pedicellate in short panicles. Petals absent. Hypanthium with long whitish hairs, capsule with long rusty hairs." The species has been recorded from the tablelands and slopes of New South Wales, but is generally uncommon. Pomaderris prunifolia is not listed on Schedule 1 of the Act, so that populations are eligible for listing.

2. An isolated population of Pomaderris prunifolia occurred in the Parramatta, Auburn, Strathfield and Bankstown Local Government Areas, disjunct from other populations. There are early collections from the late 1800s and early 1900s from Flemington (Auburn, Strathfield LGAs), Bankstown and Parramatta.

3. The only recent collection from this area is from Rydalmere, where only 3 plants occur.

4. The plants at Rydalmere are:

• located on a road reserve and vulnerable to road construction or restoration
• adjacent to sites undergoing industrial development
• vulnerable to unsympathetic landscaping and landscape maintenance adjacent to the population that could destroy the population
• vulnerable to local pressures for "tidying up" the plants and their habitat.

5. In view of 1, 2, 3 & 4 above, the Scientific Committee is of the opinion that the Parramatta, Auburn, Strathfield and Bankstown population of Pomaderris prunifolia has been reduced to such a critical level and its habitat has been so drastically reduced that it is in immediate danger of extinction. The population is also disjunct and at or near the limit of its geographic range and is of significant conservation value as a remnant of the original flora of Parramatta, Auburn, Strathfield and Bankstown.

Proposed Gazettal date: 29/1/99
Exhibition period: 29/1/99 - 12/3/99