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Abstract

Knowledge of the age at which seedlings begin to flower and set seed (i.e. primary juvenile period) is required for understanding the ecology and appropriate management of fire-killed species (i.e. obligate seeders) in frequently burnt landscapes. This paper documents the variation in age at first flowering by 15 fire-killed shrubs of sandstone and sand plain woodlands of central and north-west Queensland. In only two species, Acacia acradenia and Acacia gonoclada, were more than half of the individuals examined beginning to produce seed within 3 or 4 years of post-fire germination. Three species had not begun any flowering or seeding within 3 years of germination (Acacia hammondii, Acacia monticola and Acacia shirleyi).