This is a list of recently extinct flora of Australia, that is plants that have known to have become extinct since the European colonisation of Australia in 1788. Within Australia there are mechanisms for registering an extinction at the federal, state and territory levels. Federal and state listing's may vary due to regional extinctions or because of differing definitions of extinction in the various pieces of legislation.
Plants listed as extinct by the federal government[]
Plants and animals are listed as extinct and the federal level under the auspices of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The Act lists all plants known to have been made extinct since the commencement of European settlement of Australia in 1788. There are 52 plants currently listed as extinct under the Act.
Of note, the species Pimelea spinescens subsp. pubiflora was presumed extinct after 1901, but a population was discovered in 2005. The orchid Diuris bracteata was also considered extinct after its first collection in 1899, but it was rediscovered in 1998. Neither have been removed from the EPBC list of extinct plants. The Spiny Everlasting (Acanthocladium dockeri) was reclassified as critically endangered in 2006 after it was rediscovered in 1999. Bennett's Seaweed, declared extinct under the EPBC Act in 1999; was the first protist listed as extinct by the IUCN in 2004.
| Name | Common name | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Acacia kingiana | WA | |
| Acacia prismifolia | Diel's Wattle | WA |
| Acianthus ledwardii | QLD | |
| Amperea xiphoclada var. pedicellata | NSW | |
| Amphibromus whitei | QLD | |
| Argyreia soutteri | QLD | |
| Caladenia brachyscapa | Short Spider-orchid | TAS |
| Caladenia pumila | Dwarf Spider-orchid | VIC |
| Calothamnus accedens | WA | |
| Coleanthera virgata | Hidden Coleanthera | WA |
| Deyeuxia lawrencei | TAS | |
| Didymoglossum exiguum | QLD | |
| Diplocaulobium masonii | QLD | |
| Diuris bracteata | NSW | |
| Euphrasia ruptura | subshrub | NSW |
| Frankenia conferta | Silky Frankenia | WA |
| Frankenia decurrens | Decurrent-leaved Frankenia | WA |
| Hemigenia clotteniana | QLD | |
| Huperzia serrata | Water Tassel-fern | QLD |
| Hutchinsia tasmanica | TAS | |
| Hymenophyllum lobbii | QLD | |
| Hymenophyllum whitei | QLD | |
| Hypsela sessiliflora | NSW | |
| Lemmaphyllum accedens | QLD | |
| Lepidium drummondii | Drummond's Lepidium | WA |
| Leucopogon cryptanthus | Small-flowered Leucopogon | WA |
| Lycopodium volubile | QLD | |
| Marsdenia araujacea | QLD | |
| Monogramma dareicarpa | Grass Fern | QLD |
| Musa fitzalanii | QLD | |
| Oberonia attenuata | QLD | |
| Olearia oliganthema | NSW | |
| Opercularia acolytantha | WA | |
| Ozothamnus selaginoides | Clubmoss Everlasting, Table Mountain Daisy Bush | TAS |
| Paspalum batianoffii | QLD | |
| Persoonia lax | NSW | |
| Persoonia prostrata | QLD | |
| Philotheca falcata | Sickle-leaved Waxflower | WA |
| Pimelea spinescens subsp. pubiflora | Spiny Rice-flower | VIC |
| Prostanthera albo-hirta | QLD | |
| Prostanthera marifolia | NSW | |
| Pterostylis valida | Robust Greenhood | VIC |
| Ptilotus pyramidatus | Pyramid Mulla-mulla | WA |
| Pultenaea maidenii | Maiden's Bush-pea | VIC |
| Senecio georgianus | Grey Groundsel | NSW, SA, VIC |
| Tetratheca fasciculata | Cronin's Tetratheca | WA |
| Thomasia gardneri | Mount Holland Thomasia | WA |
| Tmesipteris lanceolata | QLD | |
| Trianthema cypseleoides | NSW | |
| Vanvoorstia bennettiana | Bennett's Seaweed | NSW |