Hairy quandong translocation finally produces the goods
On the north coast of NSW, translocated plants from an extremely rare and endangered rainforest tree have fruited for the first time ever.
Elaeocarpus williamsianus
Hairy quandong (Elaeocarpus williamsianus) is known from only 9 populations, from the Tweed Valley to Byron Shire. In 8 of the populations, all the individual stems are clones that don’t produce fertile seed. Having such a low level of genetic diversity is not good if you are an endangered species!
In 2013, cuttings from the wild populations were re-planted together at several locations, creating new, genetically diverse populations.
