Bucketty Bush-pea (Pultenaea renneri)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 240534180

Saving the Bucketty Bush-Pea (Pultenaea renneri) from extinction in the UNESCO listed Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

Generously supported by the Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, a team of researchers from the Blue Mountains in Australia have rediscovered a beautiful, rare pea.

The researchers from the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, the Botanic Gardens of Sydney, and the University of Sydney have confirmed the re-discovery of the Bucketty Bush-Pea (Plutenaea renneri). This species had been 'lost' for over 40 years, and there were concerns it could be extinct. It was known from only a handful of collections made in highly bush-fire prone areas within Yengo National Park near Bucketty, New South Wales. 

In September, Matthew Renner, Douglas Renner, Andrew Orme and Lindsey Gray travelled to Yengo National Park in the north east of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area to try and relocate the plant. 

Happily, the team relocated the plant near to where it was last collected in 1983 and in some new locations thoroughout the protected areas in the National Park.

The team were assisted in their search thanks to a new iNaturalist sighting from user 'porcoespinho15'. They had noted a Bush-pea in flower on the side of the road in Bucketty in September 2023 that they couldn't key out. That un-identifiable Bush-pea was indeed the Bucketty Bush-pea. The iNaturalist botanist couldn't ID it in September 2023 as it was still an undescribed species!

 In a fun twist, when the Bucketty Bush-pea was eventually scientifically described in late 2023, it was named in honour of Matthew Renner, a member of the search team, as Pultenaea renneri for his many contributions to Australasian botanical science. 

The researchers will take another MBZF sponsored field trip in December. This trip will focus on the plants ecology, and the team collecting seeds from the pea for long-term species preservation at Australina PlantBank.