We’ve been working on something very special at Riverton…

Have you heard of the Melaleuca irbyana? Commonly known as the Swamp Tea Tree, the Melaleuca irbyana is an endangered plant that is found in the Logan region, including Riverton in Jimboomba.

Melaleuca irbyana plants are small trees growing up to 12 meters in height with thick, spongy, papery bark. They have tiny, stalk-less, pointed leaves. They flower in spring and summer with fluffy creamy-white flower spikes. They produce small woody seed capsules to 3mm.

These plants are home to number of wildlife species including koalas, echidnas, macropods, native frogs, a variety of birds, a diverse range of native herbs and other species of conservation significance.

In recognising this endangered species at Riverton, our team has established a 50 metre buffer zone around the Melaleuca irbyana on site and over the past two years, have had a program of weed management and water quality monitoring in place to ensure the zone is not negatively impacted by any surrounding works. 

During this time, we have carefully collected and nurtured seeds from the Melaleuca irbyana naturally occurring on site with the intention to further bolster the amount of these plants by planting 7,500 of these back into the buffer zone. In addition to this, we will also plant 7,500 mixed Eucalyptus and Acacia species (15,000 plants in total) in the protected area to create a naturally optimised vegetated area. 

Check out these beautiful photos of the plants carefully grown from seed collected from the Melaleuca irbyana naturally occurring on site. 

 
This image shows the seedlings starting to strike in their carefully controlled growing environment whilst they are so young. 

   
90% of the trays on the heat bed in the image on the left are all M. irbyana. These plants in the image on the right were potted up in August 2021 and will be ready to replant in late March / early April when conditions will be perfect to maximise their chance of survival.

AVJennings is committed to helping protect and preserve these special plants for future generations to enjoy and for local wildlife to thrive. Longer term we intend to have educational signage in the Riverton community for the residents to understand the significance of the plant species and carry on nurturing this habitat well into the future. 

We look forward to sharing more updates with you over the coming months.