Author Archives: cjccg01

Plant of the Month – September 2014

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CUSHION BUSH

(Calocephalus brownii)

                              

(Photos: E. Cousins, Cape Jervis)

Low maintenance, wind and salt tolerant, highly dry weather tolerant, copes with sandy, loam or clay soils, loves sunshine, dislikes humidity … sounds like just the thing for a coastal garden at Cape Jervis! Add to these features its interesting textural form, and its silvery colour which reflects light at night. What more could you want, for, say, a border along a path, or a contrast to greener plants in your garden?

It’s a bushy, compact perennial shrub to about 75cm high. The stems are really just branches, since the leaves are pretty much invisible, they are so small. The summer flowers are round, and creamy in colour. The ‘brownii’ in the name is after a British botanist, not the colour of the plant. In fact, until recently, the plant was called Leucophyta brownii, from the Greek ‘leucos’ (white, grey) and ‘phyto’ (plant).

Weed of the Month – September 2014

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AFRICAN DAISY

(Arctotis stoechadifolia)

       

(Photos: partially opened flower, mat formed by plant; E. Cousins, Cape Jervis)

The silvery foliage and daisy-like flower would make this an attractive ornamental in a garden … if it would just stay there! Another garden escapee, this weed is found on the coastal reserve at Cape Jervis, but it certainly isn’t restricted to there. It is a major problem in other S.A. reserves, such as the Hallett Cove and Scott Creek Conservation Parks. You’ll recognize it by its woolly stems, heavily lobed leaves, and daisy-like flowers which vary in colour from white through pink and purple. In sand dunes, it can grow into dense mats (see photo). These mats cause local plants to be lost through shading, smothering and competition for resources. Apparently, this weed can also cause the structure of sand dunes to alter, e.g. by becoming steeper in slope.

Plant of the Month – August 2014

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GRASS TREE or YACCA

(Xanthorrhoea semiplana ssp tateana)

              

   (Photos: old plant, forest of plants; E. Cousins, Cape Jervis)

There are many beautiful yacca specimens on the peninsula… take a walk through Newland Head Conservation Park to see forests of them! Their trunks are made of accumulated leaf bases, not wood, so they are more of a grass than a tree, hence the common name. The yaccas around Cape Jervis have trunks up to 4 metres tall, and flower spikes up to another 2.5 metres on top. Phenomenally slow growth rates mean it takes a long time for a trunk to get to this size though.  Aboriginal peoples used this plant for tools, drinks and navigation: the flowering spike made spears for fishing; the nectar from the flowers for a sweet drink; the side the flowers opened on first to indicate north (sunnier side). The resin was used for glue/adhesives; in fact, the botanical name Xanthorrhoea is from the Greek xanthos, meaning yellow, and rheo, meaning to flow; referring to the resin.

Weed of the Month – August 2014

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BROAD-LEAF COTTON BUSH

(Gomphocarpus cancellatus)

(Photos: plant, monarch butterfly and caterpillar; flower bud; E. Cousins; Cape Jervis)

This woody weed from South Africa grows to about 1 metre high, and competes with natives for space, nutrients and water. It has escaped cultivation as an ornamental, and has invaded many reserves and national parks. The plant seed is spread by wind and water; its sap can be an irritating or toxic to some people, so use gloves when dealing with infestations. Hand pull small plants; use cut-and-swab or drill-and-fill techniques to poison large ones. If infestations are kept under control, the cotton bush does bring one benefit. Over the winter, you’ll notice the plant has many white-purple flowers…and often plenty of caterpillars, devouring the soft leaves and stems. These are the larvae of the Monarch butterfly, which have been plentiful around Cape Jervis this year. The Monarch is not truly an Australian native (though a resident for hundreds of years!), but apparently the larvae of the Lesser Monarch, which IS an Australian native butterfly, also uses this bush as a food source!

Carolyn’s update – Birdcages and direct seeding!

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You may have noticed two wire cages near the ferry terminal or the four cages opposite the old Christie homestead on Sorata St. This is our first attempt at direct seeding, with the cages protecting the seedlings from rabbits. Direct sowing of seed will have two benefits: 1.  We can revegetate more of the site with less effort and 2. we can grow more species including the pretty daisies and hard to germinate plants. We are following a method from Greening Australia (downloaded from http://www.florabank.org.au/). It includes a pre-germination step where seed are placed in a bag with a little water, air and perlite (right photo). We trialled two mixes, a “sure-set” mix of local Acacias and hardy shrubs and a “smalls” mix of grasses and daisies, including the yam daisy and paper daisies. The Acacias are already up and growing but it’s much harder to tell the others apart from the weeds. We will keep you posted. Mustn’t forget to thank Waite Conservation Reserve for donating the cages.

 

 

Plant of the Month – July 2014

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COAST BEARD-HEATH

(Leucopogon parviflorus)

          

(Photos: E. Cousins, Cape Jervis)

 

The common name of Coast Beard-heath for this plant comes from the dense hairs (or beard) on the petals of its white flowers. These flowers are produced in dense clusters of 7-13, on spikes about 3cm long. The springtime photos above show the shrubs in full bloom, so be on the lookout for beautiful flower displays like this in a couple of months … and look also for the honeyeaters attracted to them.  Coast Beard-heath is an important food source for a number of native birds over summer, but the birds return the favour, in that its seeds are difficult to germinate unless they have passed through a bird’s stomach! The bushy shrubs grow to about 1.5 metres on the coastal heath around Cape Jervis. Leaves are narrow, with tips that sometimes appear bent backwards (recurved).  The tiny fruits are smooth, white globes, like little pearls. These are edible, and lead to a second common name for the plant, the native currant.

Weed of the Month – July 2014

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STINKWORT

(Dittrichia graveolens)

(Photos: C.Schultz; Cape Jervis)

This annual is native to the Mediterranean region, but adapts to other temperate climes with a winter rainfall of 300-800mm. It likes open (unshaded), disturbed sites where there is sparse groundcover: roadsides, paddocks, wasteland and riverbanks; it also spreads into dry grasslands. If undetected or ignored, it can take over. The plant is aromatic, with an odour like camphor (hence the common name). In summer it grows rapidly from a rosette to an erect plant up to 50cm, with sticky, slightly hairy grey-green foliage. Hundreds of small yellow flowers appear from January to April, and fruits from February. These fruits produce massive numbers of seeds (about 15,000 per plant!), which are viable for 3 years. The 2mm seeds are hairy, with about 30 bristles each. These hairs allow them to cling to clothing, machinery, animal fur, etc., and hence enable seed dispersal by means other than wind and water. The plant can cause dermatitis, itchiness and blistering of your skin, so avoid touching it. Grazing animals are even worse off … ingested seeds can give them enteritis and kidney disease!

What a great day of planting, and thanks to all our volunteers

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What a perfect day we had for our planting activities on Friday, 29 May! The sun was shining and we had lots of help. Our regular core was enhanced by 8 willing helpers from Conservation Volunteers Australia, led by Tricia Curtis. We also had drop-in help from Yankalilla Council (Corey, Warren (& partner Alison) & Peter) and Zac from Sealink. In total, about 550 seedlings were planted, including over 44 local species of trees, shrubs, grasses and ground covers. Our cakes and bikkies were a hit as always. On Saturday we planted another 50 “delicate” plants, and set up our direct seeding trials in donated wire cages. Hopefully the cages will keep the rabbits out! The seedlings were grown from locally collected seed, mostly by Carolyn & Liz, but we did get some help from John at Fleurieu Natives. Thanks to everyone who contributed to a very successful weekend. All we need now is a good rain every few weeks!!

Next Activities:  Sat 2 Aug 10-4 & Sun 3 Aug, 10-1. Tools & cake provided.

For information contact Carolyn 0423 213 481

Weed of the Month – June 2014

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ATHEL PINE

(Tamarix aphylla)

              (Photos: C.Schultz; tree; close-up showing flower)

This tree was widely planted for its shade in the 1970s, but has now been listed as a “Weed of National Significance”. It is a threat to the pastoral industry, because of its invasiveness (it has already spread along 600 kms of the Finke River of NT), and its ability to dry up waterholes and rivers. It also out-competes native plants which provide food and shelter for birds, reptiles and other animals. The trees can grow to 15m tall. Though not a true pine, the tree does produce dull green leaves similar to pine needles. Light grey trunks of younger trees darken to black as the tree matures. Sprays of pinky-white flowers are followed by bell-shaped fruits containing lots of seeds. These seeds have a built-in parachute … fine hairs, to help the wind spread them. Buried broken branches can also grow into new trees.

Plant of the Month – June 2014

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AUSTRALIAN BINDWEED

(Convolvulus angustissimus)

       

   (Photos: E. Cousins, C. Schultz, Cape Jervis)

This is a low-growing creeper, only about 15cm high, but with a spread up to 1.5 m. Convolvulus is from the Latin for “to twine around”; angust is for “narrow”, and issimus for “greatest degree”, perhaps a reference to the multi-lobed leaf shape on mature plants? The leaf shape actually changes along the stem as plants mature: young leaves are smooth and almost shield-shaped, but after a year leaves are narrow and branched. The trumpet-shaped flowers are pink when open, but last only a day, like many other forms of convolvuli. Luckily, the flowering period can be quite long, from early spring to mid-autumn. The black, hard seed normally matures from October-May, after the papery fruits turn brown and brittle.  Extracts obtained by boiling the whole plant were used by Aboriginals to treat diarrhoea and stomach ache (Greening Australia); as well, taproots were used as a food source when the yam daisy was out of season.