
Forward Notices
Our Next Meeting and the Next APS NSW Gathering
Due to the next APS Gathering to be hosted by Northern Beaches Group being on 27 February, 2016, our next meeting at Gumnut Hall, Cherrybrook, the first for 2016, will not be held until Saturday, 5 March 2016, at 2pm.
Details of both the Gathering and our meeting will be included in the next issue of Calgaroo.
Info for Your Diary
The APS NSW AGM and May APS Gathering will be hosted by the Sutherland Group on Saturday, May 21 at the Sutherland Multi Purpose Centre. The AGM will be followed by a talk from Anthony O’Halloran of Bilby Blooms on Conservation Issues in the Pilliga Forest.
Incidentally, if you would like to look at some splendid photos of our native plants visit the web site of Bilby Blooms which is a wholesale nursery at Binnaway in the north of the State. Obviously some plants they sell will be more suited to gardens to the west of the Great Divide and to the venturesome willing to seek mini-ecologies in locations such as ours. Visit http://www.bilbyblooms.com.au/
The 2016 APS Annual Get Together will be hosted by Tamworth Group on the weekend of Saturday/ Sunday, August 20/21.
Details will be given nearer the date of the occasion but you may care to enter the item in your diary now.
Calendar
Jan 2016
Wed 13 Propagation at Bidjiwong Community Nursery at 10am
Feb 2016
Sat 6 Deadline for Calgaroo news / articles
Wed 10 Propagation at Bidjiwong Community Nursery at 10am
Sat 27 APS NSW Gathering hosted by Northern Beaches Group
Mar 2016
Sat 5 Our meeting at Gumnut Hall at 2pm – speaker
Sun 6 Deadline for Calgaroo news / articles
Wed 9 Propagation at Bidjiwong Community Nursery at 10am
Membership
As you know, many years ago APS NSW Board chose to renew membership from the quarter in which members joined. Therefore some are due to renew their membership now and others will do so later in the year. We send reminders after receipt of updates from the APS Membership Officer.
When you receive your copy of Australian Plants and Native Plants for NSW, check the address label on the envelope where you find when you are due to renew.
Current membership fees are:-
Individual | $53 | Individual Concession | $45 |
Joint | $61 | Joint Concession | $53 |
You may pay on-line by direct deposit into the Society’s bank account or post a cheque or money order. For directions please see the middle pages of a recent Native Plants for NSW newsletter.
If in doubt please contact our Group Treasurer and Membership Officer, Pip Gibian
And there may be the odd person who has indicated an interest in native plants but not joined our Society and our Group. To be fair to financial members we cannot continue to send you Calgaroo and have you participate in our activities.
We don’t want to lose you and hope you wish to become a member or continue your membership with us. If anyone needs to join APS, please speak to or otherwise contact Pip Gibian.
Your Favourite Native Plant(s)
I confess that after editing Calgaroo for nearly six years I begin to wonder what aspect of our flora I should write about next.
Who knows what information they would appreciate? Please let me know! Mind you, we can respond only to the best of our ability. You may know more than we do. Either way let us know where your interests lie. Submit an article or just ask a question. Perhaps one of these! Just seen on http://www.gardensonline.com.au/



Botanists Grafting to Save Oldest Plant

(King’s Holly)
Image: Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry, Parks, Water and Environment.
This article was first published in the journal Tasmania’s Stories
If your joints ache occasionally and you feel your years, spare a thought for the iconic plant King’s Holly. It has lived for 46,300 years and it hangs out in one of Tasmania’s wettest and most wind swept corners.
It is listed as endangered under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 and as critically endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
A member of the plant family, Proteaceae, that was flourishing on the super continent Gondwana before it broke up 150 million years ago, King’s Holly is represented today by a scattering of about 500 shrubs in a remote gully in Tasmania’s South-West Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Legendary bushman Deny King spotted it there in 1937. Recognising it as an un-catalogued plant species, the wilderness-loving tin-miner reported it to science. He could not have known the extraordinary nature of his discovery, which was classified in 1967 as Lomatia tasmanica.
Because it has three sets of chromosomes, the Lomatia is known to science as a triploid, and is sexually sterile; only able to reproduce vegetatively. When a branch is broken from a shrub by the region’s nagging winds it can establish new roots, creating a physically separate plant that is genetically inseparable from the original. So the 500 or so existing shrubs are regarded by experts as manifestations of a single plant. “The whole species is just one plant, 1km wide. It never produces seed and it survives by growing up, falling over and sprouting up and it has been doing that for a very long time,” a UTAS scientist said. “So while other species, such as Wollemi pine, are more ancient, King’s Lomatia is doubly remarkable.” “Not only is the whole species made up of just one plant, but as far as we know, that plant is one of the oldest clonal plants on land in the world.”
UTAS, the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and the Tasmanian Government’s Threatened Species Section have been working together on the project for decades. A scientific team is trying to ensure the ancient but vulnerable species, which is distinguished by glossy holly-like leaves and clumps of Grevillea-like (to a layman) waxy flowers, doesn’t come to an abrupt end because of encroaching Phytophthora cinnamomi root rot fungus, a bush fire or some other unforeseen event.
Botanists have been trying to propagate the plant from cuttings since 1994, but progress towards a target of 50 plants has been grudging. After 21 years of hard graft there are 46 potted King’s Lomatia plants of varying sizes in the nursery at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. The oldest surviving plant – from propagation in 1998 – is about a metre tall.
In the wild, King’s Lomatia can reach a height of about eight metres. “It doesn’t like root disturbance, so every time we pot it on we’re losing plants, unfortunately,” Natalie Tapson, Horticultural Botanist at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, told www.digitaljournal.com
Research is continuing on tissue culture propagation and trials grafting King’s Lomatia on to the rootstock of related species from Tasmania and South America are continuing. By putting it on to a different root stock, it’s hoped that when you plant it out, or transfer it, you’re not going to have that loss because the root stock is stronger,” Ms Tapson said. It is hoped that successful grafted plants in the future can be planted out in the grounds at the Gardens for people to view.
Science is giving one of the oldest plants we know of a new lease on life. It’s tenuous at this stage, but in trying to ensure the survival of this remarkable plant Tasmania may just be developing a unique horticultural offering for the world.
For this and other stories visit http://www.brandtasmania.com/
We thank Jennifer Farrer for this article.
First native flower produced by fusing cells
(ABC TV: Kerry Staight*)
In a glasshouse at Kings Park in Perth, under three layers of protection, sits a tiny and unremarkable looking plant which scientists say is the future of native flower breeding…
See the article at:
ABC News – Fusing plant cells offers ‘mind-blowing opportunities’ for native plant cultivation, scientists say
*Kerry Staight is a presenter with ABC TV in the program Landline that goes to air at 12.02pm (right after headline news) on Sundays. Check the time of a repeat presentation.
Bushwalking
Chris Coe has drawn attention to a Bushwalking NSW general meeting at 7pm on Tuesday, February 16.
Dr Les C Higgins will talk on Our Need for Nature and How we Benefit – about bushwalking in the light of what is known about our need of nature and the astounding array of benefits that flow from meeting that need.
Bushwalking NSW Inc holds quarterly meetings at Ashfield RSL Club, 374 Liverpool Road, Ashfield. Their phone no is (02) 9565 4005. Visit their web site at http://www.bushwalkingnsw.org.au
Australian Flora Foundation
The latest issue of the AFF newsletter Research Matters, January 2016, is now available and a copy will be sent to members. Older issues are available on-line at their web site www.aff.org.au Ian Cox is Editor.
An article by Jim Barrow The geology and the soils of the south-west determine where the plants grow is a must read. Dr Barrow “retired” in 1992 as a Chief Research Scientist after nearly 40 years with CSIRO. Post retirement he has continued his scientific work.
Save Our Flora
Maria Hitchcock has released SOF E-Bulletin No 12 and lists 18 species of our Australian native plants, including five from NSW, that are considered critically endangered. These are:-
Acacia leptoneura WA | Corunastylis insignis NSW |
Acanthocladium dockeri SA | Genoplesium littorale NSW |
Atalaya breviolata NT | Corunastylis sp. Charmhaven NSW |
Brachychiton sp. Ormeau Qld | Darwinia foetida WA |
Brachyscias verecundus WA | Dasymalla axillaris WA |
Calectasia cyanea WA | Daviesia glossosema WA |
Callistemon megalongensis NSW | Diuris flavescens NSW |
Conostylus setigera WA | Duma horrida ssp.abdita WA |
Corunastylis ectopa ACT | Eidothea hardeniana NSW |

All are uncommon because they are so rarely found. Let us hope they may be saved along with all endangered plants.
To the left is the beautiful WA flower, the Calactasia cyanea, clearly one we don’t want to lose.
If, like me, you don’t recognise the names, google on your computer or look in your reference book.
Maria also includes some items that you may care to follow up. She has the following note from Libby Woodward and Steve Syer (Vic).
“We thought you might be interested in an update on the great action that is occurring at our ponds and dams. It really is incredible what is out there, we get very excited by the diversity. Visit the following Facebook entry: facebook.com/pages/Victorian-Natives/867592356651038 “
Brisbane Times article about a new program monitoring the mangroves around Gladstone Harbour. The program was funded by the Gladstone Ports Corporation and is called CHAMP (Coastal Habitat Archive and Monitoring Program). Here is an extract from the article by Leonie Thorne.
James Cook University’s Dr Norman Duke said the project will provide a “unique view” of the shoreline as well as detailed information about conditions and changes. James Cook University (JCU) scientists are creating a comprehensive map of the shoreline as part of the Coastal Habitat Archive and Monitoring Program (CHAMP).
“Big changes are expected – as shoreline development expands, with pollution events, coupled with severe storms, sea level rise and other aspects of climate change,” he said. “We really need to know how our coastal environments are changing.”
The footage – captured from helicopter, boat, and on foot – is gathered with the help of community volunteers and indigenous Gidarjil rangers. The end goal is to collate the data into a detailed “street view” of the coastline extending from Fitzroy River mouth east of Rockhampton to Rodds Bay north of Seventeen Seventy.
An excellent video is included with the article http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/mangroves-the- unsung-star-of-coastalecosystems- 20151122-gl500e.html#ixzz3sFmI23Db
Maria concludes, ‘This is an example of a very successful Community – Science – Industry Partnership.
For those interested to further pursue details of Native Bees visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/beeawareofyournativebees
Membership of Save Our Flora is free and you may contact Maria Hitchcock on saveourflora@gmail.com You can now access some previous Save Our Flora e-Bulletins online at http://coolnatives.com.au/SaveOurFlora.html
A Banksia Flower Spike Opens
I watched several flower spikes of a Banksia serrata from my dining room table as they opened several weeks ago. They open progressively from the bottom of the spike to the top and in these cases took some 15 to 17 days to open fully. I had never known how long they took before this and I wonder whether any other member has taken note of such an event. And I wonder how long other Banksias take for the flower spike to open.
Photographers, let’s focus on the wetlands
*David Twomey




Photographers of all ages are invited to share their photographs of Australia’s breathtaking wetland environments through the annual Wetlands in Focus Photography Prize.
Wetlands in Focus is dedicated to spreading the word about Australia’s amazing wetlands and the fantastic people who care about them.
Therer are prizes for the best shots of wetland plants, animals, landscapes and even for photos of wetland volunteers.
There’s $1,500 in cash prizes on offer sponsored by
the Murray-Darling Basin Authority as well as other great prizes. Submissions to Wetlands in Focus are now open online at www.wetlandcare.com.au
It’s free to enter and entries are open right up to the end of February 2016, which will be a month of wetland celebrations and events marking World Wetlands Day.
All entries will be publicly displayed on the WetlandCare Australia Facebook page www.fb.com.wetlandcare where you and all your friends can vote for the People’s Choice Prize by liking your favourite photo.
World Wetland Day is a day of international significance, which commemorates the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance some 40 years ago.
More information is available at http://www.ramsar.org
The theme for World Wetlands Day 2016 is Wetlands for our Future: Sustainable Livelihoods.
WetlandCare Australia merged recently with Conservation Volunteers, and together aims to keep working to conserve, restore and protect wetlands, catchments and coasts across Australia, while inspiring people to take action.
Ed. It is not common to include references to such events as this in Calgaroo but it is surely important to care for our wetlands and if this draws our attention to these it is worth giving them space.
Indeed, I cannot remember any specific reference to wetlands and the plants that grow there in Calgaroo during the 40 odd years I have been a member of APS NSW until now – if there has been, my apologies to those responsible.
Perhaps someone can tell us the species of birds and of the flowers which I am sure I should know.
*David Twomey is a reporter with Eco News where this first appeared.
Wilderness – Do you know that
The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area was listed for its unique wildlife, ancient plants, breathtaking landscapes and rich cultural heritage. It covers over 1.4 million hectares – about 20 percent of the main island of Tasmania. It includes the Southwest National Park, the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, the Hartz Mountains National Park, the eastern end of Macquarie Harbour on the west coast and the Central Plateau Conservation Area.
NASA warns El Nino weather ‘could be as bad as 1998′
*David Twomey
The United States space agency NASA has warned that the effects of the current El Nino weather phenomenon could be as bad as those of 1998, the strongest on record. That El Nino played havoc with world weather systems and was blamed for several extreme weather events.
The current El Nino has been linked to several floods and unusually warm conditions in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere countries have been experiencing heatwaves and Australia has experience bushfires much earlier in the summer than usual, along with widespread flooding in other parts of the country.
The phenomenon sees warm waters of the central Pacific expand eastwards towards North and South America.
El Nino is a naturally occurring weather episode that happens every two to seven years. It usually peaks late in the calendar year, although the effects can persist well into the following year and last up to 12 months.
NASA warns the current El Nino “shows no signs of waning”, based on the latest satellite image of the Pacific Ocean. It bears “a striking resemblance” to one from December 1997, the agency says, “the signature of a big and powerful El Nino”.
This year’s El Nino has been linked to the worst floods seen in 50 years in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. The floods there have forced more than 150,000 people from their homes – more than 100,000 of them in the Paraguayan capital alone.
In the US, 13 people have died in the US state of Missouri as a result of flooded rivers after tornadoes and storms hit the region.
Australia has experienced a much earlier than usual outbreak of serious bushfires which have destroyed hundreds of homes and been accompanied by intense heatwaves with temperatures into the high 40ºC.
El Nino has also been cited as a factor in the floods that have hit northern parts of the United Kingdom, forcing thousands from their homes and leaving thousands more without power. Storm Frank, which is expected to bring fresh rain and flooding to the UK this week, is part of a weather system causing unusually high temperatures in the Arctic. One weather buoy near the North Pole has measured a temperature above freezing, almost unheard of at this time of year, when the normal figure is about -25°C.
Average temperatures on Christmas Day in France were the second highest on record, just below those of 1997. The mild weather has forced farmers to harvest crops such as salad, strawberries and asparagus early, with reports of large amounts of produce going to waste.
Desperation in one French ski resort at the lack of snow led to 100 tonnes of snow being airlifted in by helicopter.
In Italy, experts say the unusually calm and dry weather has exacerbated pollution over the cities of Milan and Rome.
*David Twomey is a journalist with Eco News in which this article first appeared.

Parramatta and Hills District Group
Email: apsparrahills@gmail.com
Website: https://austplants.com.au/Parramatta-And-Hills
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