''Trachymene scapigera'', also known as mountain trachymene, is a species of plant in the ginseng family that is endemic to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

The species is a robust rhizomatous perennial

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

growing up to 50 cm high. The three- to five-lobed leaves form a basal rosette. Some 20–50 white to pinkish flowers are produced in an umbel borne on a 12–35 cm stem. Flowering takes place from December to March.

Distribution and habitat

The species was originally known only from the type specimen collected in 1899 near the Jenolan Caves, west of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. It was subsequently thought to be

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

until two adjacent populations were discovered in the 1980s along the banks of the Boyd River in Kanangra-Boyd National Park in the Central Tablelands district of New South Wales, where the plants grow on flat or gently sloping ground in the riparian zone.

Conservation

The species has been listed as Endangered under Australia's EPBC Act. The main threat comes from human activities, as well as, potentially, inappropriate fire regimes and disturbance by feral pigs.

References

scapigera Flora of New South Wales Apiales of Australia Taxa named by Karel Domin Plants described in 1908 {{Australia-asterid-stub