With needle leaves and delicate yellow flowers, the Bucketty Bush-Pea (Pultenaea renneri) is truly a special sight to behold. Having been seen 6 times before it disappeared in 1983, the species was believed to have gone extinct and was on its way to being declared so as the IUCN’s 50-year deadline loomed.

Together with their team, Dr. Lindsey Gray and Dr. Matthew Renner, whom the plant was named after, set out on an expedition into the dry sclerophyll forests of Australia’s Yengo National Park to find the missing plant. Though naturally a bushfire-prone area, as global temperatures rise, the habitat has been struggling to keep up with the increasingly severe and frequent wildfires. 

The five-day search, funded by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, came with exciting results, as the team not only found the Bucketty Bush-Pea but also collected seeds for conservation preservation and future “re-wilding” restoration work. 

With time and patience, the conservationists at the University of Sydney and Botanic Gardens of Sydney hope to make the pea’s vibrant bloom a more common sight in Yengo National Park during August and September.