CQU and Bushcare this week launched their Native Plant Seedbank for Central Queensland, hosted at: http://seedbank.cqu.edu.au .

The initiative was launched by Dr Rhonda Melzer (pictured), a botanist at Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services who is an authority on native plants of the region.

CQU native seed researcher Dr Nanjappa Ashwath (pictured) said establishment of this website would not have been possible without the funding support of the Bushcare (Natural Heritage Trust) program and the support of many native plant enthusiasts.

The website contains images of native plants and native plant seeds. The site also contains data for seed germination of a wide range of native species. Some species require smoke water or boiling water treatments for germination. The responses of seeds to these treatments and the time taken to germinate seeds are also provided.

The unique feature of this website is that it provides images of seeds which cannot be readily found anywhere. Further, some of these seeds have been stored in different storage conditions and the effect of such storage conditions on seed viability is examined for the first time.

This site also includes photos of native plants that are listed in 'Native Plants for the Fitzroy Catchment', a booked launched recently by the Society for Growing Australian Plants (Rockhampton branch).