Hope blooms for one of WA’s rarest orchids
WA scientists have achieved a breakthrough with the critically endangered Queen of Sheba orchid, producing its first engineered flower at Kings Park and opening a new path for conservation.
EVENTS & WHAT’S ON
One of Western Australia’s rarest native orchids has flowered in a milestone that conservation scientists say could reshape efforts to save the species. The first engineered Queen of Sheba orchid, Thelymitra variegata, has successfully bloomed at Kings Park after being grown from a small number of seeds held in conservation collections.
The critically endangered orchid survives in fewer than 30 known wild plants, scattered across small pockets of banksia woodland on the Swan Coastal Plain. Scientists at the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority used somatic embryo technology to produce large numbers of plants from limited seed material, achieving the first flowering specimen in just three years, far faster than the roughly seven years typically needed through traditional propagation.
The breakthrough matters because it creates a path to scale up conservation efforts for a plant that is highly vulnerable in the wild. According to the WA government statement, the technique could potentially generate thousands of new plants from a small number of seedlings, giving conservationists a stronger tool to help recover threatened orchid populations.
Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn said the work is vital to keeping the orchid available for future generations. “This kind of conservation work is absolutely critical to ensuring orchids like the Queen of Sheba remain available for everyone to experience and enjoy for generations to come,” he said. He added that rising global interest in orchids has also increased the responsibility to protect vulnerable species in the wild. “With that interest comes a responsibility to protect vulnerable species in the wild, which is exactly what this exciting development is aiming to do.”
BGPA scientists are now exploring whether the same approach can be applied to other threatened orchid species, widening the potential impact beyond the Queen of Sheba alone. For WA’s conservation sector, the flowering plant is not just a symbolic win but a practical step toward restoring one of the state’s most iconic and imperiled native plants.
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