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Germination of fresh seeds of the rare arid zone shrub Grevillea kennedyana F. Muell. (family Proteaceae) is most successful at 10°C with light, and 15°C with or without light. The seeds were non-dormant and did not require further germination enhancing substances, such as smoke or fire to achieve > 80% success. These results do not support the role of fire in the management strategies suggested in the Recovery Plan for this species. Grevillea kennedyana seeds are orthodox and can be dried at 15°C and 15% RH and stored at 4 and -18°C for a short period. In relating the results of this trial to the germination requirements of Grevillea kennedyana in the field, it appears that successful germination will require low temperatures (i.e. < 15°C in winter) at the time of seasonal rainfall. Further studies are required to determine the cause of the poor seedling recruitment observed in the field.
Observations on the longevity and ecology of Isopogon prostratus McGill. (Proteaceae) based on 1985 and 2009 field measures on Newnes Plateau, near Lithgow, and a seed germination trial are provided. Its survival strategy appears to be that of a stress-tolerator with long-term persistence at (relatively few) suitable sites, and it remains a relatively rare plant. It is conjectured that it is likely to have been a species of greater abundance in the drier, colder and generally treeless conditions of the Newnes Plateau 15–20 000 years ago, but, as conditions became warmer and wetter it has become reduced to isolated populations as taller shrubs outcompeted it for light.