One of Western Australia’s rarest native orchids has reached a major conservation milestone, with the first engineered Queen of Sheba orchid successfully flowering at Kings Park.
Scientists from the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority (BGPA) have grown large numbers of Queen of Sheba orchids (Thelymitra variegata) from a small number of seeds held in conservation collections using somatic embryo technology.
The critically endangered orchid has fewer than 30 plants remaining in the wild and is found only in small areas of banksia woodland on the Swan Coastal Plain.
In a significant breakthrough, the program has produced its first flowering plant after just three years, a feat that would normally take seven years using traditional propagation methods.
Environment Minister, Matthew Swinbourn said the technology has the potential to generate thousands of new plants from a small number of seedlings, providing a powerful new conservation tool for helping recover threatened orchid populations.
“This kind of conservation work is absolutely critical to ensuring orchids like the Queen of Sheba remain available for everyone to experience and enjoy for generations to come,” said Minister Swinbourn.
“In recent years we’ve seen growing interest in orchids around the world, which has helped people appreciate just how unique WA flora is.
“With that interest comes a responsibility to protect vulnerable species in the wild, which is exactly what this exciting development is aiming to do.”
Following the success of the Queen of Sheba program, BGPA scientists are now exploring opportunities to apply the technique to other threatened orchid species.
