AGAPANTHUS

(Agapanthus praecox subsp. orientalis)

(Photos: E. Cousins; leaves and habit, 6-petalled  blue flower, three-sided fruits.)

Here’s another fence-jumper!  This is a really hardy garden plant, with long, dense strappy leaves the whole year round, a tuberous/rhizomous root system, and lovely, lanky 1m flower stems that abound in summer. Low maintenance, showy, grows just about anywhere, drought resistant…no wonder they are so popular! Each flower stem produces up to 100 blue or white bell-shaped flowers; each flower can produce a three-sided fruit, and fruits can produce 20-100 viable seeds …that’s a lot of seeds per plant, to be spread on coastal winds! So please, dead-head the flower stems when the fruits are green (or earlier) before this lovely plant becomes another problem for the coastline!! Alternatively, buy hybridized cultivars that set very little seed e.g. miniatures, or Queen Mum.

Carolyn’s Corner – April 2016 

Local seed is best – or is it? An accepted dogma is that seed sourced locally is best for revegetation. But what is local? 10 km along the coast from Cape Jervis is very different from 10 km inland. A researcher from Adelaide University, Prof Andy Lowe, and his team have suggested that using 10-20% of seed sourced from hotter and drier areas could produce habitats with greater resilience in the face of increasingly variable weather patterns/climate change. Their reasoning is that this will promote biodiversity and prevent the “fixation” of adaptations to past environments. To read more, see the Oct 2015 edition of ReLeaf magazine (http://www.treesforlife.org.au/resources/our-publications).

Plants in the Cape Jervis area are often smaller and more drought tolerant than their Adelaide Hills counter parts, so perhaps sourcing seed from a coastal region further afield may be good for species such as the “critically endangered” Hibbertia pallidiflora. These two plants were photographed at Lands End Jan 23 (left) and were doing it really tough. February rains brought an amazing recovery for these two plants (23rd Feb), but will they be so lucky during the next drought?   

Next get together, 2 & 3 Apr 2016. Training & great cakes provided.

We welcome new volunteers.  Contact Carolyn Schultz 0448 909 881.

Sat 2^nd and Sun 3^rd April – Next working bee

New visitors / helpers always welcome.

Training, tools and cakes provided.

Sat AM 10.00, tree guard collecting

On the erosion ditch between ferry terminal and trig point

• Meeting point A. Just south of the start of the Heysen Trail near picnic table (see map below). If you are late, walk south along the Heysen Trail for about 10 mins, until you see us.
• morning tea provided

   Lunch, approx  1.30, at Lot 3 Sorata St (Carolyn’s house),

• BYO lunch

Sat PM  (approx. 2.30) – Tidying the “lower loop”

Meeting point A

Removing a few tree guards (some plants are growing out over the top)

and hand weeding around plants, tip pruning

Sun AM,  9.00 AM – 12.00 Noon – Making Seed/Daisy bombs

Meeting point – Lot 3 Sorata St – Morning tea provided

This year we will be trialing seed/daisy bombs to see if

1) this low effort revegetation method works

2) we can get some of the pretty daisies/lilies to grow

To learn more – http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s4210404.htm

http://www.ecocitizenaustralia.com.au/seed-bombs/

email: carolyn.schultz165@gmail.com

LEAFLESS BLUEBUSH

(Maireana aphylla)

(Photo: E. Cousins, Cape Jervis; habit, spiky stems, papery fruit)

We found this rare plant recently on the cliffs overlooking the lighthouse at Cape Jervis. Not a plant you would want to fall into if walking on those cliffs… it has no leaves but hard spines, or spikes, instead. (In Latin, ‘a’ means ‘without’, and ‘phylla’ means ‘leaves’, explaining the ‘aphylla’ in its name.) In the tough conditions it is living in, any defences probably help! The dull green shrubs we found were small, no more than knee high, though some sources say they grow to 1.5m!  The fruit are actually those small, pale apricot-coloured wings that look like flowers in the last picture above. The stems are striated, or grooved. You might be able to make these out in the centre picture. Let us know if you find them anywhere else on the peninsula!<

HARE’S TAIL GRASS

(Lagurus ovatus)

(Photos: E. Cousins; plant and habitat, leaves with short hairs, feathery seed head. Fishery’s Beach)

You will often see this plant in dry, coastal areas, particularly in disturbed sites. Originally from northern Africa but now naturalized around much of SA, it has spread through many conservation areas. Look for a short-lived and short-statured grass, up to about 50cm tall. In the second photo, you can see the leaf sheath hugs the stem of the plant before the blades bend outward. The sheath parts are very hairy and occur on alternate sides up the stems; the leaf blades are flattish and have a finer hair covering. The really feathery seed-heads, containing many flower spikelets, are what you will spot first, though. These are whitish with an attractive elongated shape. Seed-heads are visible from September until well after the tiny flowers themselves have detached and blown away. Don’t confuse these with the native Echinopogon !

REFLEXED, or COMMON CORREA

(Correa reflexa)

(Photo: from https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/gnp7/correa-reflexa.html)

‘Correa’ comes from the name of a Portugese botanist of the 1700s, but maybe ‘variable correa’ would be a good name for this one: very erect, or semi-prostrate; dense or open in habit; leaves narrow or round, hairy or almost smooth, with flat or curled-back edges (hence reflexa)! Enough options??? It is still fairly easily identified though, by its pendulous, bell-shaped flowers which have two small leaves sitting along the top of the bells. The flowers themselves are a bit woolly, with tips that are turned back a little.  You should be able to spot yellow anthers on the 8 stamens sticking out from the red and yellow/green flowers. A group of 3-5 of these correas would look good in your coastal garden. They like light sandy soils with good drainage, with sun or shade. Protect them from the wind, and they will reward you with many lovely flowers from May to November.

RED VALERIAN

(Centranthus ruber ssp ruber)

(Photos: E. Cousins; plant in flower, and flower cluster; Cape Jervis)

This prolifically-flowering, showy perennial is native to southern Europe. However it is now a common environmental weed in SA, invading dry coastal areas, wastelands, roadsides, etc., equally. It is easily spotted with those profuse heads of dull purplish-red flowers in spring! Individual flowers are tiny at 2mm, but occur in large clusters, or inflorescences, as in the photo. The flowers attract insects such as bees and butterflies, and have a fairly strong (not necessarily pleasant) smell.  The 5-8cm long leaves along the tall stems sit opposite each other; these have a short stem (petiole) while those at ground level have none. Often confused with Valeriana officinalis, which has healing properties, this plant has no medicinal value. Leaves and roots can be eaten (no promises made that it’ll be tasty though!!).

KANGAROO THORN

(Acacia paradoxa)

(Photos: https://ianluntresearch.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/inverleigh-dense-acacia-paradoxa1.jpg;, http://fobw.rnr.id.au/images/other/Acacia_paradoxa_BalukWillam080826-2195.jpg)

Prickly, prickly, prickly! You’ll know if you walk near one of these on a bushwalk, or try to push through, because the thorny little spines on the stems will grab at you!! These grow at the base of the phyllodes (or false leaves). But these thorns also mean the shrub provides great protection for little birds such as wrens and finches, and other creatures hiding from prey. A bushy, spreading shrub up to 3 m high and wide, it is native to large parts of SA, where it often occurs in thickets. It makes great, almost impassable hedges, and in fact is sometimes known as the ‘hedge wattle’. Resistant to salt spray as well as livestock, it does well on the peninsula. The phyllodes are dark green, quite crinkly, and hairy when new. Small balls of richly coloured yellow flowers appear in winter-spring, making up somewhat for its inhospitability to walkers!

SLENDER THISTLE

(Carduus tenuiflorus)

(Photos: E. Cousins; a patch at Cape Jervis, flower head.)

This weed has been appearing on the foreshores at Cape Jervis over spring-early summer. As you can see from the photos, the plant stems sit upright, with the flower heads held high. The flowers are small (2-3cm), purple, and are around from September to December. They always occur at the end of a flowering stem, not along its length. Note the spiny bracts at the lower outside edge of these flowers. Later the flower produces two types of seeds: inner (about 85% of the seeds) and outer. These all have plumes for spreading by wind. Leaves are a dull green on top, paler underneath and hairy there. There’s a rosette of leaves at the base, but other leaves along the stems as well, forming ‘wings’. There can be multiple stems, ribbed and a bit hairy; these might be seen still standing long after the plant dies off in summer.

There’s a new interpretive sign at Cape Jervis, at the start of the Heysen Trail…a celebration and explanation of the on-ground works we have been doing over 3 years of planting and weeding. If you are walking this way, read the sign, look at the plants or sit at the recently installed picnic table. Planting on this exposed “lower loop” has been a challenge. If you have spare water at the end of your walk, look for tree guards/stakes with pegs and give them some water (gently please!). We are trying to water a few times during the summer, but it’s not easy, so every little bit helps. So many of our coastal plants are slow growing and take a few years to get established. We have re-introduced 70 different local species on site, so if you feel like a longer walk, check out the plantings along Flinders Drive (main road) as well.

Big thanks to our volunteers, many of whom live in Adelaide Adelaide, the Natural Resources AMLR (aka your NRM levy) and to Yankalilla Council for providing the picnic table, plants, and cutting the paths.

Next get together, 5 & 6 Dec 2015. Training & great cakes provided.

We welcome new volunteers.  Contact Carolyn Schultz 0448 909 881.