Andre Messina
Flora Botanist & Seedbank Coordinator
Andre Messina maintains and updates the plant identification website, VicFlora, produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, and co-ordinates the Victorian Conservation Seedbank (VCS), which is located within the National Herbarium of Victoria. His work includes flora writing for VicFlora and the Flora of Australia online, undertaking threatened species assessments, plant specimen collection for the Herbarium, as well as seed collection, cleaning, storage and maintenance of the seed collection database for the VCS. His research interests are in the taxonomy of flowering plants in south-eastern Australia, principally in the daisy genus Olearia.
Publications
Messina, A., Duval, D.J., Lang, P.J. (2024). Goodenia elongata Labill. (Goodeniaceae) is not present in South Australia. Muelleria, 42: 37–39.
Messina A. (2023). Confirmation of Olearia aglossa (Asteraceae) in Victoria with notes on its distribution. Muelleria 41, 29–33.
Messina A. (2020). Afrohybanthus bennettiae (Violaceae) a new combination for a rare violet from the Kimberley region. Muelleria, 39, 15.
Hirst M. J., Messina A., Delpratt J. & Murphy S.M. (2019). Raising rarity: hoticultural approaches to conserving Victoria's rare and threatened wildflowers. Australasian Plant Conservation. 27(4), 14–16.
Messina A. & Walsh N.G. (2019). Reinstating Olearia stricta (Asteraceae) for an uncommon shrub from montane regions of South East Australia, and notes on O. ramulosa. Muelleria 37, 109–117.
Thiele K.R., de Salas M.F., Walsh N.G., Messina A., Little R.J. & Prober S.M. (2018). Viola curtisiae, a new rank for a poorly understood species, with notes on V. hederacea subsp. seppeltiana. Muelleria 36, 107–111.
Stajsic V., Walsh N.G., Douglas R., Messina A. & Molloy B.P.J. (2015). A revision of Melicytus (Violaceae) in mainland Australia and Tasmania. Australian Systematic Botany 27, 305–323.
Messina A., Walsh N.G., Hoebee S.E. & Green P.T. (2014). A revision of Olearia section Asterotriche (ASTERACEAE: ASTEREAE). Australian Systematic Botany 27, 199–240.
Messina A., Callahan D.L., Walsh N.G., Hoebee S.E. & Green P.T. (2014). Testing the boundaries of closely related daisy taxa using metabolomic profiling. Taxon 63, 367–376.
Messina A., Walsh N.G., Hoebee S.E. & Green P.T. (2013). A morphological assessment of the Olearia phlogopappa complex (Asteraceae: Astereae). Australian Systematic Botany 26, 31–80.
Messina A., Walsh N.G. & Whiffin T. (2010). Recognition of a new species of Pomaderris (Rhamnaceae) in eastern Victoria based on morphological and chemical data. Muelleria 28, 136–145.
Messina A., Hirst, M.J. & Walsh N.G. (2017). Getting by with a little help from my friends. Samara 30, 13.
Rumpff L., Coates F., Messina A. & Morgan J. (2008). Potential biological indicators of climate change: Evidence from phenology records of plants along the Victorian Coast. Arthur Rylah Institute Technical Report Series No. 175, Department of Sustainablity and Environment (Melbourne).
Gallagher R.V., Barrett S., Bell S.A.J., Copeland L.A., Dillon R., Gosper C.R., Keith D.A., LeBreton T.D., Mackenzie B.D.E., Messina A., Neldner V.J., Ngugi M.R., Nolan R.H., Ooi M.K.J., Tasker E.M., Tozer M., Walsh N.G., Yates C.J. & Auld T.D. (2023). Blackened roots and green shoots: emerging trends in decline and recovery in Australian plant species after the 2019–20 wildfires. In: Rumpff L., Legge S.M., van Leeuwen S., Brendan A. Wintle B.A. & Woinarski J.C.Z. (eds): Australia's Megafires: Biodiversity Impacts and Lessons from 2019-2020. CSIRO Publishing, pp. 111–126.