Illegal land clearers have allegedly wiped out about a fifth of the remaining population of a critically endangered plant only found in NSW and Queensland.
Just 1,449 mature black grevillea plants were estimated to be left in the wild in 2019.
Now there's potentially 270 less after several kilometres of land were illegally cleared along a roadside near Stanthorpe in Queensland, the Department of Environment and Science said on Thursday.
It's investigating with scientists at the Queensland Herbarium, who will report on the alleged damage.
Black grevillea was listed as critically endangered in August.
It's found only in a small area of NSW and Queensland's granite belt region.
Under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act, the maximum penalty for destroying protected plants without authorisation is a $400,350 fine or two years in prison.
