{"id":3460,"date":"2026-09-23T10:35:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T00:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/?p=3460"},"modified":"2026-09-23T10:39:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T00:39:18","slug":"seed-bank-update-september-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/?p=3460","title":{"rendered":"Seed Bank update September 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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In the Bega Valley we are experiencing a significant surge in spring activity, with several local native plants hitting their peak flowering period or beginning their initial seed production cycle. <\/p>\n

Article by Merryn Carey: Far South Coast Landcare Seedbank Coordinator<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genetic diversity in seed collection and propagation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Maintaining a diverse gene pool for local native plants used for revegetation helps to build resilient landscapes that can respond more readily to environmental change.  That\u2019s the current thinking anyway! With real concerns about rapid climate change, landscape fragmentation, disease and resulting potential for species extinctions \u2013 trying to maintain high genetic diversity within planting material is one thing we can do to help .<\/p>\n

Extensive areas of National Park and other reserves in the Far South Coast  help maintain genetic diversity in our local vegetation remnants. Movements of birds, bats, moths, butterflies and many other types of insects and animals as well as wind and water \u2013 help to move pollens and propagules around the landscape and logically help to improve gene flow between plants. While seedbank does not pick seed in National Parks  [these areas are protected] – proximity to strong diverse vegetation reserves would help maintain diverse genetic makeup in reserves and remanants on private lands.<\/p>\n

Recent talks with people in Landcare groups from other parts of SE NSW working in the space of revegetation, reminded me just how lucky we are to have large areas around us set aside as National Parks. <\/p>\n

Regions close to large population centres or in areas extensively cleared for Agriculture are not so lucky. Their revegetation programs often struggle to find enough specimens of the species they want to plant to ensure good genetic diversity in their seed collections.  A project in the Yass region for example – tested DNA in the plants in their community run revegetation nurseries as well as in their seed sources and it showed some problems with inbreeding. This can occur when too few trees and shrubs are targeted for seed collection. Another example in the Illawarra region \u2013 there are species of rare rainforest trees that only have a few specimens on lands readily accessed for picking the seed. These trees end up being the parents for nearly all the plants of that species available for revegetation.<\/p>\n

For our seedbank collections we try to pick from as many different plants as practical, and collect from many different locations throughout our local region. We prefer to pick from areas where many plants of that species are growing resulting in good cross pollination. We avoid picking from isolated individuals.  <\/p>\n

Joining in as a \u2018Seedcollector\u2019 or \u2018Seedspotter\u2019 would help us to keep our gene pool wide.<\/p>\n

Below is a list of species  that the Far South Coast Landcare Seedbank is looking for over the spring period. Keep in mind that climate variability, warm periods and the ongoing dry conditions may change species ripening times\u2026\u2026\u2026..<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
September<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Species:<\/strong><\/td>\nCommon Name<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Allocasuarina littoralis
Allocasuarina verticillata
Casuarina glauca
Eucalyptus bosistoana
Eucalyptus paniculata
Melaleuca armillaris
Melaleuca ericifolia
Melaleuca hypericifolia
Melaleuca squarrosa
Xanthorrhoea concava <\/td>\n		Black She-oak
Drooping She-oak
Swamp She-Oak
Grey Box
Grey Ironbark
Bracelet Honey-myrtle
Swamp Paperbark
Hillock Bush
Scented Paperbark
Grass Tree<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
October:<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eucalyptus sieberi
Leptospermum continentale
Leptospermum polygalifolium
Poa billardierei    
Xerochrysum bracteatum<\/td>\n		Silver-top Ash
Prickly Tea-tree
Tantoon, Yellow Tea-tree
Beach Fescue
Golden Everlasting, Strawflower<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
November:<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Acacia brownii
Acacia floribunda
Acacia suaveolens
Acacia subporosa
Allocasuarina littoralis
Bulbine glauca
Coronidium elatum
Dodonaea truncatiales
Dodonaea viscosa
Eucalyptus angophoroides
Eucalyptus globoidea
Eucalyptus maidenii
Eucalyptus smithii
Hakea decurrens 
Myoporum acuminatum
Myoporum boninense
Olearia tomentosa
Ozothamnus argophyllus
Ozothamnus ferrugineus
Poa billardierei 
Xerochrysum bracteatum<\/td>\n		Heath Wattle
Gossamer Wattle
Sweet Wattle
Sticky Bower Wattle
Black She-oak
Bulbine Lily
White Paper Daisy
Angular Hop-bush
Hop Bush
Apple-topped Box
White Stringybark
Maiden\u2019s Gum, Southern Blue Gum
Gully Gum, Blackbutt Peppermint
Bushy Needlewood
Pointed Boobialla
Coastal Myoporum
Toothed Daisy Bush
Spicy Everlasting
Tree Everlasting
Beach Fescue
Golden Everlasting, Strawflower<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

The FSCLA Seedspotters Workbook<\/strong> contains localised, monthly species lists  to look out for each month and space to record your field observations. A PDF file of the Workbook can be dowloaded below for you to print at home. If you don\u2019t have printer and would like a hard copy of the seed spotters handbook, very limited copies are available for serious seed spotters by contacting the FSCLA Seed Bank Coordinator Merryn Carey- email: fsclaseedbank@gmail.com<\/p>\n

<\/object>NATIVE SEEDBANK SEEDSPOTTER WORKBOOK<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Bega Valley we are experiencing a significant surge in spring activity, with several local native plants hitting their peak flowering period or beginning their initial seed production cycle.  Article by Merryn Carey: Far South Coast Landcare Seedbank Coordinator Genetic diversity in seed collection and propagation Maintaining a diverse gene pool for local native plants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,260,1],"tags":[53,63,162],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3460"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3466,"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460\/revisions\/3466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsccmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}