Conservation of significant flora

The City of Canning helps to conserve the flora species listed as threatened or a priority by the Department of Parks and Wildlife.

A threatened or priority plant species is one that is:

• under identifiable threat of extinction
• rare / hard to find
• in need of special protection.

Some of the threats to native flora in Perth are:

• weed invasion
• inappropriate fire regimes
• clearing
• degradation
• disease.

These are some of the threatened or priority plant species found in Canning:

Grand Spider Orchid (Caladenia huegelii)

The City monitors several populations of the threatened Grand Spider Orchid. Efforts by the Natural Areas team have seen some orchid populations increase in size over the past few years.

Weed control, revegetation, and fencing of remaining populations will continue to protect this unique orchid.

Macarthuria keigheryi

Macarthuria keigheryi is a small erect or spreading shrub which grows to approximately 40 centimetres tall. There are only six populations of the shrub in Western Australia.

The species grow in some of Canning’s natural areas, although it is difficult to find as it dies back to its rootstock during summer. Protecting Macarthuria keigheryi from grazing animals, such as rabbits, and controlling weeds will assist the recovery of this species.

References

• Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (2013). Macarthuria keigheryi in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Available online.
• Western Australian Herbarium (1998–).
• FloraBase — the Western Australian Flora.
• Department of Parks and Wildlife.