The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) is asking for public assistance in locating a rare plant, known to exist in only one location in the Central West.
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The plant, which as yet has no common name but is known to botanists as Bossiaea fragrans has so far only been found on the limestone soils around Abercrombie Caves Karst Conservation Reserve, south of Trunkey Creek and east of Wyangala Dam, but is thought to be more widespread.
Amanda Jowett, a Scientific Technical Officer with OEH's Regional Operations Group, is responsible for the management of this special plant, which is listed as critically endangered under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, mostly due to the small number of individuals known to exist.
"It's a straggly-looking pea plant that grows to about 2m high and has a bright yellow-reddish flower, and is usually found on fairly steep slopes with very little understory in the forest", said Ms Jowett.
"When we first started managing the Bossiaea, there was only a handful of plants, but the searching we've done over the past couple of years has uncovered new populations and the numbers are now in the several hundreds. Still, that's all that exist in the entire world, so it's pretty rare.
"OEH is currently doing further surveys to determine if the plant occurs elsewhere and is investigating known sites to understand population trends.
"Remote cameras have also been set up at some sites to determine what animal is grazing the plants.
"In the meantime we'd like to hear from anybody who thinks they may have Bossiaea fragrans on their property.
"We will have some information and photos on display at the Neville Show on November 8 and would be happy to provide people with more information on the day," Ms Jowett said.
