Photo of tiny rare shoot labelled a find of 'great significance' in Aussie rainforest
The last sighting was of a Boonjee Blush Walnut was 12 years ago.
A tiny tree shoot found at the bottom of an Aussie rainforest has scientists reeling in excitement due to its "great significance" to the area.
The small seedling led an ecologist to a handful of others before one mature Boonjee Blush Walnut tree was found in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest in Queensland. This discovery marks only the fifth time the species has been spotted in the 1,200-kilometre square rainforest, with the first in 1995.
Ecologist and botanist Kristopher Kupsch made the discovery recently during a survey of the area, and confirmation of the species has been labelled of "conservational importance" and "rarity".
"The discovery of such a rare species highlights the urgent need to protect at-risk freehold land in the Daintree Rainforest," Richard Christian, CEO of Gondwana Rainforest Trust told Yahoo News. "This is essential to preserving rare and threatened species like the Boonjee Blush Walnut."
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Why is the tree discovery so important?
The Boonjee Blush Walnut produces oval-shaped black fruits, up to seven centimetres in size, and these are usually dispersed by native wildlife such as musky rat-kangaroos and endangered, Southern Cassowarys across the rainforest floor.
"[The fruit] plays a critical role in forest regeneration," Christian explained to Yahoo News.
The last sighting of the tree in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest was 12 years ago and each sighting in the area is often decades apart from the one before, highlighting how special this recent discovery was.
The most recent sighting was on an undeveloped freehold property in Diwa within the Daintree Lowland Rainforest and scientists are delighted by the confirmation of the species is still able to grow in the area.
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