Extinct Plant Found After 60 Years by Outback Hiker

Aaron Bean was banding birds on a remote Queensland station when he spotted a shrub with feathery purple-pink flowers and pulled out his camera. The professional horticulturalist had no idea he'd just photographed a plant presumed extinct for 60 years.

When Aaron uploaded his photos to iNaturalist, the citizen science platform with 4 million users worldwide, they caught the eye of expert botanist Anthony Bean at the Queensland Herbarium. Anthony immediately recognized the plant as Ptilotus senarius, a species he'd described a decade earlier that hadn't been seen since 1967.

"It was very serendipitous," says Thomas Mesaglio from UNSW's School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, who documented the rediscovery for the Australian Journal of Botany. The slim shrub with exploding firework blooms grows only in rough country near the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Scientists had chalked up Ptilotus senarius as one of roughly 900 plant species lost since the 1750s. Now it's been moved to the critically endangered list, where conservationists can actively protect it.

The discovery highlights how platforms like iNaturalist are becoming essential to modern science. With nearly 300 million observations covering over 500,000 species, these databases let everyday nature lovers become the eyes and ears of researchers who can't cover Australia's vast landscapes alone.

Mesaglio's separate research found iNaturalist has been cited in papers covering 128 countries and thousands of species. The platform has helped identify new species and rediscover presumed extinct ones across the globe.

Private land covers about a third of Australia's continent, making access difficult for scientists. Programs like New South Wales' Land Libraries project now train property owners to document biodiversity on their land and upload findings to citizen science platforms.

The Ripple Effect

The real magic happens beyond the data. "Engaging landholders themselves with science and the natural world makes them far more likely to be interested and invested in protecting that diversity," Mesaglio says.

Property owners who discover rare species on their land become instant conservation partners. They gain equipment, training, and a connection to something bigger than themselves.

Even simple details matter for scientists analyzing observations later. Plant smell, leaf texture, and surrounding habitat provide vital identification clues that photos alone might miss.

Every day brings new uploads and potential discoveries waiting in the database. For Aaron Bean, one curious moment in the Outback became proof that hope grows in unexpected places, even after six decades of silence.