CALGAROO A journey into nature Newsletter of the Parramatta and Hills District Group Australian Plants Society NSW Ltd Our vision: inspiring people to admire, grow and conserve native plants
WHAT’S ON FOR THE REST OF 2022
Saturday 23 July 2 pm: | Bushwalk Jones Road Kenthurst. |
Saturday 27 August 2 pm: | Bushwalk Cobar Ridge, Marramarra National Park. |
Saturday 24 September: | Celebration of our Group’s 50th anniversary. . See Page 12 |
Saturday 22 October 2 pm: | Bushwalk. |
Saturday 26 November 2 pm: | Members’ meeting and Christmas Party. |
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Bushwalk Jones Road Kenthurst
Saturday 23 July 2 pm
This will be an easy but interesting walk along the fire trail at the end of Jones Road. The flora here on Hawkesbury Sandstone is diverse, and spectacular in places. It should be close to peak flowering time too. Lesley and Ian will be leading this walk.
Rare plants include Leucopogon fletcheri subsp. fletcheri (endangered), Darwinia biflora (vulnerable), and Tetratheca glandulosa (vulnerable).
There’s a population of Boronia floribunda with flowers ranging from pink to pure white. Unusual plants discovered on previous walks include a form of Phebalium squamulosum with variegated leaves, and a Boronia ledifolia with pure white flowers.
Meet at the end of Jones Road for a 2 pm start.
Styphelia triflora and Phebalium squamulosum should be flowering:
Also Leucopogon fletcheri and Boronia ledifolia (white):
Photos Lesley Waite
A Wide and Open Land – Walking the Last of Western Sydney’s Woodlands
Author: Peter Ridgeway
I’ve just finished reading Peter Ridgeway’s book, which I can thoroughly recommend. I found it inspiring and powerful. It contains so much information about the Cumberland Plain landscape, and so much history and background. It’s also so very sad!
There’s a copy of Peter’s book in The Hills Council’s library. It can also be purchased from Megalong Books online here.
Review from Megalong Books:
In the Winter of 2019, Peter Ridgeway set out to walk 179 kilometres across the Cumberland Plain, the region of rural land west of Sydney. Carrying his food and water and camping under the stars, he crossed one of the least-known landscapes in Australia, all within view of its largest city.
This book recounts a unique journey across a landscape few Australians will ever see. In this open country, the familiar forests of Sydney’s sandstone are replaced by a fertile world of open woodlands, native grasslands and wetlands, home to some of the Nation’s most unique and endangered wildlife. The traditional land of the Darug, Gundungurra, and Dharawal peoples, and the birthplace of the first Australian colony, it is a landscape that also holds the key to our entwined and conflicted origins.
What was once a limitless tract of woodland is now being engulfed by the city to its east, in the largest construction project ever undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere – the elimination of an ecosystem and a community. This book provides an immersion in the history, wildlife, and culture of one of Australia’s most rapidly-vanishing landscapes, and reveals how the destruction of ‘the West’ is erasing not only itself, but something central to the identity of all Australians.
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Free tree giveaway
I’ve picked up three free trees from Bunnings under the NSW Government’s tree giveaway program. They’re Acmena smithii ‘Firescreen’, Callistemon citrinus ‘Endeavour’, and Syzygium australe ‘Straight and Narrow’, all mature plants in 20mm pots.
You can register for this program at
https://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/premiers- priorities/greening-our-city/free-tree-give-away
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The Community Environment Centre
Mayoral visit
The main purpose of the Community Environment Centre at Annangrove is to interest people in and educate them about sustainable living, and to encourage them to appreciate the wonders of nature. Several members of our Group work there as volunteers each Thursday.
Recently the Mayor of The Hills Shire, Peter Gangemi, was shown around the demonstration gardens. It was a very interactive visit, and the Mayor showed genuine interest in what our volunteers are achieving.
Lesley explains the flower parts of Grevillea ‘Firesprite’, and Chris shows how easy it is to grow sweet potatoes.
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Amazing Fungi
Why are they important?
It’s no secret that Earth’s biodiversity is at risk. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, 26% of all mammals, 14% of birds and 41% of amphibians are currently threatened worldwide, mainly due to human impacts such as climate change and development. Other forms of life are also under
pressure, but they are harder to count and assess. Some scientists have warned of mass insect die-offs, although others say the case hasn’t been proved.
And then there are fungi – organisms that often go unnoticed, with an estimated 2 million to 4 million species. Fewer than 150,000 fungi have received formal scientific descriptions and classifications.
If you enjoy bread, wine or soy sauce, or have taken penicillin or immunosuppressant drugs, thank fungi, which make all of these products possible. Except for baker’s yeast and button mushrooms, most fungi remain overlooked and thrive hidden in the dark and damp. But scientists agree that they are valuable organisms worth protecting. The amazing biological fungal kingdom includes everything from bracket fungi, moulds and yeasts to mushrooms and more.
Fungi are not plants, although they’re usually stocked near fresh produce in grocery stores. In fact, they’re more closely related to animals. But fungi have some unique features that set them apart. They grow by budding or as long, often branching, threadlike tubes. To reproduce, fungi typically form spores, a stage for spreading and dormancy. Rather than taking food into their bodies to eat, fungi release enzymes onto their food to break it down and then absorb sugars that are released. The fungal kingdom is very diverse, so many fungi break the mould.
Fungi play essential ecological roles worldwide. Some have been forming critical partnerships with plant roots for hundreds of millions of years. Others break down dead plants and animals and return key nutrients to the soil so other life forms can use them. We can only partially appreciate the benefits fungi provide, since scientists have a narrow and very incomplete view of the fungal kingdom. Imagine trying to assemble a 4-million-piece jigsaw puzzle with only 3% to 5% of the pieces.
Mycologists struggle to formally describe Earth’s fungal biodiversity while simultaneously assessing various species’ conservation status and tracking losses. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species includes 551 fungi, compared to 58,343 plants and 12,100 insects. About 60% of these listed fungal species are gilled mushrooms or lichenised fungi, which represent a very narrow sampling of the fungal kingdom.
Extract from The Conversation, 17 May 2022
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From little things, big things grow!
From Wollongong Botanic Garden
Yesterday (8th June) we headed out to Harrigan Park to plant out the city’s first Tiny Forest with the help of some AMAZING students from Tarrawanna Public School.
This Tiny Forest is now filled with a diverse and dense mix of native plants, chosen to replicate the layers of a forest. The plants are very close to each other to encourage faster vertical growth.
Once the plants establish, they will provide extra shade for the community, cooler air, absorb harmful carbon emissions, help restore local biodiversity and attract wildlife.
Drop by to check out this new Tiny Forest in Tarrawanna!
This is just the first of many Tiny Forests we’ll establish in Wollongong. For more info visit
https://wollongong.nsw.gov.au/…/urban…/tiny-forests
Sydney’s seed bank moves to new premises
Laura Chung and Amelia McGuire
From the SMH
The Seed Hunter
From ABC New England
Read about it here:
Saving Sydney’s rarest eucalypt from extinction
Eucalyptus sp. Cattai is only found in The Hills LGA.
Read about it here:
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Stomata on the underside of this Grevillea robusta are open, and trying desperately to unload water. Potting mix is saturated.
A GOOD reason to NOT prune waterlogged plants. They NEED all those leaves to drain moisture AWAY from the roots.
From Changers Green Nursery, Queensland.
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Parramatta and Hills Group’s 50th Anniversary
Jennifer Farrer
In September this year, our Group will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first meeting. This auspicious occasion deserves a celebration.
This will be a lunch to be held on Saturday 24 September at 12.30 pm at Muirfield Golf Course, North Rocks. We are hoping that as many members as possible will be able to attend. Please keep the date free. We would also like to invite former members who may have moved away from our area or who have become involved in other activities. If you are still in touch with anyone who used to be a member of our Group it would be good to have their name and contact details so we can send them an invitation.
I am also putting together a photographic record of all the things we have done. This will be made into a PowerPoint presentation to play on the day. I am looking for photos of members on walks and excursions, at meetings or plant sales and displays. Often, we take photos of the plants we see when we are out and about, but this time we want to emphasise the Society part of our name rather than the Plants. So, do you have photos of our stalls at the Samuel Gilbert School fetes which we attended for many years?
Can you find photos of members out on walks or excursions to places such as Mt Annan? What about our Propagation Group sales at North Rocks Shopping Centre, or just learning new skills at Bidjiwong Nursery?
Over to you.
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Basic Bushland Photography
Joan Hayes
At last, Lachlan Turner has presented his long-awaited, and very interesting talk at our meeting on 25th June
2022. We’ve previously postponed this talk three times due to Covid lockdowns and other unforeseen issues but it was well worth the wait.
Lachlan was employed in the NSW Education Department in various tech and admin roles for approximately 40 years, he is a volunteer at the Hills Shire Community
Environment Centre at Annangrove, he writes a monthly column, “Hidden in the Hills”, published in three local Hills District magazines, and has authored several other publications. In 2018 he was awarded The Hills Council’s Award for Community Contribution – Environment and Sustainability.
The purpose of the talk was to present us with an appreciation of the diversity of our local bushland environment, and to demonstrate some inspirational examples for those who are keen to search out some of the hidden wonders that exist in our local bushland.
Cameras and Accessories
Lachlan started with information on the different cameras that might be suitable for bushland photography, and various accessories that help to improve our experience and results. He also discussed tripods and interchangeable lenses for more specialist photography. But don’t despair – we can all start with whatever camera we might have or the trusty smartphone that so many of us carry these days.
Rule of Thirds
This is a convention that is followed by those who are passionate about their photography to produce the ideal image. Lachlan shared Good, Fair and Poor examples of the use of the Rule of Thirds on a landscape, a flower portrait and a casual shot of an orchid, and explained why the use of this rule worked on some photos and not on others.
Let’s Make Tracks
Bush tracks can look a little uninteresting, but look a little closer and there can be a lot more to them than first meets the eye. Stop for a moment and take a look at the surroundings.
Features may not immediately strike the eye as being significant, but take a moment and you might be amazed at what you see. Look beyond the track, many trees have interesting bark and contrasting colour that can create a great photo; they can also have intricate shapes and texture. Look up and appreciate the grandeur of the canopy and create a wonderful memory of your bushwalk.
What else can you point a camera at?
Flowers, Birds, Fungi, Insects, Animals, Reptiles, Rocks, Plants, and Water can all make an interesting subject for you to photograph; just use your imagination.
Take an imaginative look at rock formations; they may resemble some living or imaginary object. Study the textures and colours. You may be surprised at what you see! Water is quite often overlooked. Look for the reflections on still water; blue sky, clouds, and trees; reflections offer a very pleasant water subject. Look for interesting ripples; these may be created by swimming birds or other animals. Water running over rocks can also be an interesting subject. Just stop for a moment, be still and keep an eye out for what may emerge.
Rainbow Lorikeets certainly have good taste!
Photo Lachlan Turner
Much of the information covered in Lachlan’s talk is available in the booklet we were all given. If you were not able to attend you can pick up a copy at the Hills Shire’s Community Environment Centre on Currie Avenue Annangrove on a Thursday.
And to finish, this wonderful photo from Kevin Stokes of Grevillea dielsiana, a spreading shrub from the Geralton, Mullewa districts of Western Australia:
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Share your stories . . .
What have you been doing?
Email me at itcox@bigpond.com for the next Calgaroo
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In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of our Country, the people of the Dharug Nation, whose cultures and customs have nurtured, and continue to nurture, this land since time immemorial. We honour and celebrate the spiritual, cultural and customary connections of Traditional Owners to Country and the biodiversity that forms part of that Country.
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Parramatta and Hills District Group
SECRETARY: Jennifer Farrer apsparrahills@gmail.com 0407 456 577
EDITOR: Ian Cox itcox@bigpond.com
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