Warrnambool Botanic Gardens staff reeling after theft of camera filming rare Puya chilensis bloom
/ By Daniel Miles and Jeremy LeeA country Victorian gardening team is reeling after a stop-motion camera installed to capture the bloom of a rare Chilean flower was stolen.
Key points:
- The Chilean puya is flowering for the first time in seven years
- A camera installed in a tree to capture the bloom of a rare flower is missing
- The garden's curator says a ladder would need to be used to steal the camera from its perch
Warrnambool Botanic Gardens, about three hours west of Melbourne, is home to a number of unique and beautiful plants and flowers.
But few are as esteemed or revered as the Puya chilensis, an imposing spear-shaped flower that can take up to 20 years to flower.
Rather than waiting with a cuppa for the famed puya to bloom, the team installed a specially-made stop motion camera about four metres up a neighbouring tree just to make sure they did not miss the moment.
After seven years waiting, Warrnambool's puya decided it was time and started to bloom.
The gardeners were besides themselves, revelling in its iridescent beauty.
However, not long after the imposing flower bloomed, disaster struck.
The best laid plants
Thieves apparently climbed a ladder and stole the time lapse camera that was capturing Puya's journey into the world.
About 24 hours later, they came back and also stole the camera's bracket.
"'Disappointing' is probably not the first word I used," curator John Sheeley said.
"It's staggering, given how close it is to residential properties — it's not like it's tucked away or anything."
The camera was installed to capture the plant's growth and seeding, with an eye to informing future endeavours with the Chilean native.
The gardeners did a doorknock of neighbouring properties to no avail.
"The information recorded is very valuable for us and for other Botanic Gardens," Mr Sheely said.
"If there's an honest thief out there that wants to return the SD card, that'd be fantastic."
The camera was installed in September as the flower started showing signs it was about to bloom.
While the puya's peak flowering period has come and gone, Mr Sheely said it was still worthwhile coming down to inspect the bloom.
"If anyone was to visit the gardens, without a ladder, you're more than welcome to come and have a look because the flower is still quite striking," he said.
"It'll be good for another two weeks, I'd say."
For now, Mr Sheeley is urging anyone that saw something fishy – or perhaps an assailant with a rather tall ladder – to alert the authorities.
And would-be thieves have been put on notice that security will be tightened around the gardens.
"It's something that council is looking into, in terms of putting up some surveillance or security cameras," Mr Sheely said.
"It's ironic that you'd have to have a security camera aimed at a time lapse camera. That's not lost on me."