Narla Environmental’s ecologists recently led large-scale, targeted surveys for threatened flora species throughout Western Sydney. Narla’s Ecologists were fortunate enough to encounter multiple populations of Pimelea spicata (Spiked Rice-Flower).

Spiked Rice-Flower is listed as Endangered under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

Spiked Rice-Flower is a cryptic herb, which is difficult to detect whilst not in flower and may not be apparent aboveground during drought conditions. Pimelea spicata flowers sporadically throughout the year, with flowering likely to depend upon climatic conditions, particularly rainfall (DEC 2006).

Fortunately, with recent rainfall across Western Sydney, flowering populations were easily detected by Narla Environmental’s ecologists.