August 2019


Volume 46 No 6

Calendar

Aug
Sat 24 Bimonthly meeting at Gumnut Hall, Gumnut Place Cherrybrook at 2pm with guest speaker Jennifer Farrer on “Some Medical Uses of Australian Native Plants”
Sat 31 Plant sale North Rocks Shopping Centre

Sept
Wed 11 Propagation at Bidjiwong Community Nursery 10am to 1 pm
Sat 28 Meeting at Gumnut Hall, Gumnut Place Cherrybrook at 2pm with guest speaker Dr Deryn Griffiths on ‘Gardening with native plants and the weather’


Berowra Valley Wildflower Walk 27 July 2019

Walk led by Jennifer Farrer Report by Marilyn Cross

APS Members and members of the local community

On a beautiful sunny July day, we met at Trevors Lane, Cherrybrook, for a gentle bushwalk in Berowra Regional Park, to see the early show of spring flowers. The terrain is Hawkesbury sandstone ridgetop with extensive rock platforms and deep gullies through which run Berowra Creek and its tributaries. The soil on the ridgetop is sandy loam. The vegetation on the ridgetop is Hills Sclerophyll Sandstone Forest.

We identified >40 species in flower and we probably missed some more. We took a leisurely few hours walking the track, taking great delight in spotting the different flowering plants and trying to identify the species.

Map of walk from Friends of Berowra Valley

Species observed on walk:

Botanical NameCommon Name
Acacia longifoliaSydney Golden Wa,le
Acacia ulicifoliaPrickly Moses
Acacia suaveolensSweet-scented Wa,le
Ac/notus minor
Allocasuarina li3oralisBlack She-oak
Allocasuarina torulosaForest Oak
Banksia ericifoliaHeath Banksia
Banksia marginataSilver Banksia
Banksia spinulosaHair-pin Banksia
Boronia ledifoliaSydney Boronia
Bossiaea heterophyllaBossiaea
Bossiaea scolopendriaBossiaea
Conospermum ericifoliumConeseeds, Smokebush
Crytandra amaraBi3er Crytandra
Caus/s flexuosaGrandfathers Wiskers
Darwinia fascicularisStrawberries & Cream
Dillwynia floribundaEggs & Bacon, Parrot Pea
Dillwynia retortaEggs & Bacon, HeathyParrot Pea
Drosera peltataSundew
Epacris microphyllaCoral Heath
Eucalyptus oblongaSandstone Stringybark
Gompholobium grandiflorumGolden Glory Pea
Gompholobium minusGolden Glory Pea
Goodenia heterophyllaVariable-leaved Goodenia
Grevillea buxifoliaGrey Spider Flower
Grevillea sericeaPink Spider Flower
Grevillea speciosaRed Spider Flower
Hakea sericea
Hovea longifolia
Lamber/a formosaMountain Devil
LasiopetalumferrugineumRusty Petals
LeptospermumsquarrosumPink Tea-trea
Leucopogon juniperinusBearded Heath
Leucopogonmicrophyllus
Lomandra obliquaFish Bones
Olax Stricta
Patersonia sericeaSilky Purple Flag
Pultanaea s/pularis
Pultanaea villosa
Styphelia tubifloraRed Five-corners
Tetratheca thymifoliaBlack-eyed Susan
Woollsia pungensSnow Wreath
Xanthosia pilosaWooly Xanthosia
Zieria laevigata
Banksia ericifolia – Heath Banksia
– Image: Tony Maxwell
Banksia marginata – Silver Banksia
– Image: Marie Spicer
Boronia ledifolia Sydney Boronia
– Image: Tony Maxwell
Boronia ledifolia Sydney Boronia
– Image: Marie Spicer
Conospermum ericifolium – Coneseeds
– Image: Lesley Waite
Conospermum ericifolium – Smokebush
– Image: Lesley Waite
Darwinia fascicularis Strawberries & Cream
– Image Lesley Waite
Dillwynia retorta – Eggs & Bacon; Healthy Parrot Pea
– Image: Michael Holt
Grevillea speciosa – Red Spider Flower
– Image: Lesley Waite
Gomopholobium minus
– Small Golden Glory Pea
– Image: Lesley Waite
Leptospermum squarrosum – Pink Tea-tree – Image: Lesley Waite
Epacris microphylla – Coral Heath
Image: Tony Maxwell
Grevillea speciosa – Red Spider Flower
– Image: Lesley Waite
Hovea longifolia – Long-Leaf Hovea; Rusty Pod
– Image: Michael Holt
Leucopogon microphyllus Small-leaved White Beard Heath
Leucopogon ericoides Bearded Heath
– Images: Michael Holt & Lesley Waite
Grevillea sericea – Pink Spider Flower
– Images: Michael Holt & Lesley Waite
Grevillea buxifolia – Grey Spider
Patersonia sericea – Silky Purple Flag –
Image: Tony Maxwell

Acacia gordonii

Acacia gordonii is a rare endangered wattle with a very limited range near the home of the Parramata and Hills APS group, and hence of particular interest.

It is a spreading, often straggling shrub 0.5–1.3 m high, sometimes to 2 m. Branchlets densely pubescent (covered with short dense soft hairs). Phyllodes are spirally arranged to subverticillate and on prominent stem-projections, crowded, ascending to erect, straight but recurved at apex, subterete to flat, 10–15 mm long, 0.7–1 mm wide, obliquely and excentrically mucronate (ending in a short stiff point), green, sometimes asperulate, finely puberulous with antrorse and often tubercle-based hairs, finely longitudinally rugose when dry; nerves not evident.

Acacia gordonii

Inflorescences simple, 1 per axil; peduncles 8–15 mm long, stout, densely pubescent, the base ebracteate; heads globular, 20–33-flowered, bright deep golden. Flowers 5- merous; sepals c. 1/2–3/4-united. Pods oblong to narrowly oblong, flat, to 5 cm long, 9–15 mm wide, firmly chartaceous (thin and stiff like paper), blackish, glabrous, dehiscing unilaterally. Seeds transverse, elliptic, 3–4 mm long, arillate.

Restricted in N.S.W. to the eastern slopes of the Blue Mountains from near Bilpin, South to Linden, also near Hornsby (a northern suburb of Sydney). Grows in sand on sandstone in dry sclerophyll forest.

Related to the more northerly A. brunioides which is recognised by its thinner, usually shorter, glabrous phyllodes with frequently only slightly upturned mucros. Sometimes confused with A. baueri subsp. aspera which also grows in the Blue Mountains but that subspecies is readily distinguished by its shorter peduncles, less numerous flowered heads, smaller pods and longitudinal seeds.

Description from World Wide Wattle – worldwidewattle.com

Acacia gordonii and a Fire – Pip Gibian

Acacia gordonii is a small wattle, usually less that 1m high, with large single bright golden balls on long stalks. It is an endangered plant, being found in a small number of isolated patches, each containing a small number of plants. Fortunately there are some plants in the lower areas of the Blue Mountains National Park. A small patch of this wattle, close to a fire trail in Glenorie, has been known for many years by some APS members and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. The patch may have contained about 20 plants.

When I visited the area in May this year, I was horrified to find that the area had been burnt. I could find only one mature plant which had escaped the fire. I reported this to the Office of Environment and Heritage, which has an online reporting mechanism. Rather to my surprise I eventually received a reply indicating that this area is well known to them. There is a division of the Office called “Saving our Species” (SOS), and this was their reply:

This does not sound very encouraging.

However I discovered one bright note. The NSW Rural Fire Service has an extensive list of threatened species, with instructions regarding hazard reduction burning and land disturbance. A local RFS member described how planning hazard reduction burns included marking areas with brightly coloured tape which are not to be burnt because of an endangered species. These are not only flowering plants, but include frogs, lizards and fungi etc. I suggest you check the website of the NSW RFS Threatened Species Hazard Reduction List, where there are 19 pages of plants alone. Some include the instruction “no burning” (ever). I wonder who shows each RFS group where these areas are, but I was assured that someone knowledgeable does.


Amazing Acacias

Acacias are very representative of Australia. With about 1,000 species, the shrubs and trees are found across Australia in a range of ecosystems including rainforest. They are tough, hardy and opportunistic, and flower throughout the year, particularly in winter, providing a blaze of bright colour from cream to yellow to gold flowers.

The genus name Acacia is derived from a Greek word ‘ake’ or ‘akis’ meaning sharp point, referring to the species found in Africa which often have thorns. The common name of wattle is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning woven, referring to the Acacia saplings in early colonial days which were woven or interleaved to form the framework in “wattle and daub” buildings.

Acacias have great diversity in flower arrangement, their foliage and their fruit. The individual acacia flowers can be arranged into a ball inflorescence or into a cylindrical spike. Foliage can be bipinnate (feathery or fern-like) or phyllodes, which are flattened leaf stalks performing the function of leaves. The bipinnate forms are ancestral forms more vulnerable to heat and dryness. Most acacias have phyllodes, which evolved to cope with the dry conditions of Australia, which come in all shapes and sizes. The bean- like pods which contain a single row of seeds also vary in size, shape and colour.

While most acacias have cream to yellow flowers, one species Acacia leprosa has red flowers. It is sold as Acacia leprosa ‘Scarlet Blaze’, but a hardier choice for Sydney may be the A. leprosa x howittii cross sold as ‘Twilight Glow’ with an orange flower.

With their widespread availability across the country, acacias were an important resource for Aboriginal people, with the seeds eaten, the gum used as food, the bark and leaves used for medicinal purposes and to stupefy fish when thrown into the water, the grubs under the bark and roots eaten, such as the witchetty grub under Acacia kempeana, and the timber used for tools and weapons.

Acacias are also used as cultural symbols to represent Australia. For instance, the medals in the Order of Australia are inspired by the wattle ball blossom. Our national floral emblem, only officially gazetted as late as 1988, is Acacia pycnantha, which was important in the tanning industry due to its high tannic acid. Unfortunately, it does not grow naturally in Sydney.

National Wattle Day was officially gazetted in 1992 as 1 September: it’s “a celebration of Australia – its land and its people”. See the Wattle Day website for ideas on how to celebrate: www.wattleday.asn.au

Let’s overcome some myths. Acacias have large, sticky, heavy pollen which is dispersed by insects, not blown by wind, and is unlikely to cause allergies. Acacias are fast- growing and, as part of the ecosystem, are subject to insect attacks, but plant them in the right spot and keep on eye on them to treat pests early.

With about 1,000 Acacia species and many cultivars for the garden, there’s one for every spot. Have a closer look an amazing acacia near you. The Acacia garden at Joseph Banks Native Plants Reserve at Kareela features local species and others from further afield.

Rhonda Daniels Sutherland Group


Woody meadows project

An interesting Gardening Australia story showed how pruning could make it easy to retain a low maintenance patch of native plants just about anywhere.

Why is coppicing important in the project?

Claire: “Every 2-3 years the plot will be slashed and allowed to regrow. We have done it once already. The idea is to move on from the native landscape of the 1960’s where it goes lanky and looks terrible.” They cut to 15cm above the ground and let the plants resprout. “In nature, fire disturbs the plants, they then re-sprout and reseed to create more density and flowering.”

“The research around coppicing, a form of low pruning, was the first research we did. The Cranborne Botanic Gardens did the first coppicing trial.” “Some plants did well, others didn’t. We learnt what are good woody meadow plants or not.” All species included in the woody meadow are either ‘resprouters’ that regrow from basal buds after disturbances such as herbivory or fire, or reseeders.

Watch the whole story here: https://www.abc.net.au/


Parramatta and Hills District Group

SECRETARY: Caroline Franks

Email: apsparrahills@gmail.com