The Mountain Burr Daisy (Calotis pubescens) was thought to be extinct until 2009, and is only found at one known location in Victoria, at Sugarmatt Plain, south of Cobungra. It has been recorded from the Nungar Plain, north of Adaminaby, in Kosciuszko National Park and the Snowy Plain at the headwaters of the Gungarlin River on private land and had long presumed to be extinct in Victoria.
It is a perennial forb (a herb that is not a grass or grasslike )that forms large, dense mats.
The remaining Victorian population at Sugarmatt Plain has an active threat from trampling and grazing by feral horses and cattle.
It has recently been recommended for listing under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and the paperwork has now been sent to both the Minister for Environment and Climate Change and the Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, who will make a final decision on the matter. The ministers have 30 days to decide whether to list the plant under the Act, meaning there will be a decision by mid to late December 2013.
The Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 provides for the listing of taxa (genera, species, subspecies, varieties) and communities of flora and fauna which are threatened (the Threatened List), and potentially threatening processes (the Processes List).
Once the listing is approved, an Action Statement will be developed, covering a plan to protect the species in question.
Stay tuned for details.
Mountain Journal 
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