Tropical Mountain Plant Science Project

About the Project

In 2023, the Jurassic Garden (IJG) joined a collaborative project to establish ex-situ collections of Far North Queensland cloud/montane forest plants including Gondwanan species of flowering plants and conifers. 

The TroMPS project is a multi-institutional initiative dedicated to conserving plant species which are highly susceptible to climate change from North Queensland’s tropical montane cloud forests on Mount Bartle Frere, Mount Bellenden Kerr and Mount Lewis. The project aims to collect, store and propagate genetically diverse specimens in ex-situ collections and research the potential for these plants to survive and/or adapt to predicted climate changes. 

Key partners include the Australian Tropical Herbarium, the Australian Rhododendron Society-Victoria, and several Botanic Gardens such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria-Cranbourne (RBGV), Australian National Botanic Gardens Canberra (ANBG), Cairns Botanic Gardens, Mossman Botanic Gardens and the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Ex-situ plantings have been established at the Australian Cloud Forest Collection at the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden, RBGV and ANBG. 

The locality of Tasmania at a latitude of 42-43O South is of interest to the project to determine if the higher latitude can provide a suitable alternative to the altitudinal habitats of these tropical montane species.  

At RBGV-Cranbourne, the TROMPS display was planted out late in 2021 with a good success rate in a part of the garden that receives generous amounts of summer irrigation. Enough propagation material from certain species was then available to distribute to other botanic gardens. 

• In July 2023, the IJG was approached by RBGV in relation to receiving plant material for this project. 
• In September 2023, IJG submitted a request for TroMPS plant species that we thought were most likely to suit the climatic conditions here. 
• In November 2023, IJG received cuttings of 10 species of TroMPS plants, which were immediately sent to our expert propagator Jonathan (Jonno) Esling. By March 2024, Jonno had successfully managed to propagate all but one of the species: Eucryphia wilkiei, Podocarpus grayae, Dianella bambusifolia, Hydrocotyle miranda , Polyscias willmottii, Acrotriche baileyana, Rhododendron viriosum, Cryptocarya bellendenkeriana & and unnamed Tasmannia sp. We had no success with the Trochocarpa bellendenkerensis cuttings as they refused to take root. Although Atrotriche baileyana persisted for a while, that species too ultimately failed. However, the remaining species are growing well in our shade-house at IJG, and some are now being planted outside in the IJG garden.
• In December 2025 we were visited by Scott Levy from the RBGV and Adam Joseph Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens (previously from RBGV) who were involved in propagating and distributing the original specimens. It was great to meet and chat with them about the specimens and the success of the project and we are looking forward to staying in touch and potentially receiving more species as they become available.
• We will continue to monitor the progress of our plants and report our findings and are proud to be positively contributing to this project. 

Our thanks to the following:  

• Jonno Esling for propagating the valuable plant material with such skill and care. 

• John Arnott, Scott Levy and Warren Worboys from the RBGV-Cranbourne for their trust in allowing us to hold such rare plants and to Scott and Adam for their interest in visiting the IJG to view the specimens.  

• Phill Parsons, President of the Tasmanian Arboretum Incorporated (TAI), also a recipient of some TroMPS specimens which Jonno also propagated, for two additional specimens of Tasmannia sp. which produced only two successful cuttings in the batch sent to IJG but over one dozen successful plants from the TAI batch. 

Find out more about the Tropical Mountain Plant Science Project

• Tropical Mountain Plant Science
• Mission to save threatened plant species, ABC News
• Mountain rescue, James Cook University
• Gondwana, Wet Tropics Management Authority
• The Council of Heads of Australian Botanic Gardens
• Managing a World Heritage Site in the Face of Climate Change: A Case Study of the Wet Tropics in Northern Queensland: Ellen T. Weber 1 , Carla P. Catterall 2 , John Locke 3,4,5, Liz S. Ota 6 , Bruce Prideaux 7 , Leslie Shirreffs 1,8 , Leah Talbot 9 and Iain J. Gordon