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.

ARUM LILY

(Zantedeschia aethiopica)

(Photos: E. Cousins; flower; a patch at Deep Creek Conservation Park.)

You don’t see many of this weed at Cape Jervis, because it likes more moisture than Cape Jervis provides. It is a pest though, in many conservation parks and creek beds nearby. It stands out with its glossy, dark green foliage and large white flowers. The flowers are funnel-shaped, with a side split, and held high on long, hollow stems. The bright yellow flower spike (spadix) in the funnel centre is part male, part female. This matures into a seed head. The weed is spread by these seeds, and also by disturbance of the rhizomes under the ground. Leaves are large and heart-shaped. Although often grown as a garden plant, it can be toxic to animals and humans; fatalities in both have been recorded [1]

1. http://www.weeds.org.au/cgi-bin/weedident.cgi?tpl=plant.tpl&card=H10

CAPEWEED

(Arctotheca calendula)

(Photos: E. Cousins; flowers; plant; a patch at Cape Jervis.)

We have seen large patches of this weed at Cape Jervis, and also in Deep Creek CP. It likes both disturbed sites and natural areas: wasteland, pastures, coastal environs, grasslands, etc. So not a very choosy plant about habitat, unfortunately! It flowers in late winter-spring, when the yellow, daisy-like flowers are very distinctive, with their black centres and a single ring of petals. Before the flowers, you’ll see a rosette of ground-hugging leaves, heavily lobed, with a few hairs on top but felt-like underneath. The flower stems are very hairy. It spreads only by seed. These can spread short distances by wind, but also on people and animals. So be careful to clean tools and footware etc., if you work near them!! Once seeds set, to control this environmental weed, you need to poison or dig out the tap roots. Just slashing won’t work!

BLUE GRASS-LILY

(Caesia calliantha)

(Photos: J. Reid, E. Cousins; plant, flowering stalk, single flower; Cape Jervis )

What a stand-out blue in those petals! It certainly makes the flowers easily spotted in the region. And the colour doesn’t stop with the six petals…look at those lovely bands of white, purpley-blue and yellow on the stamens. Even the strappy green leaves are a rich colour. You will find this shin-high plant in grasslands, and the grassy understorey of bush, particularly if there is damp sandy or clay soil. The flowers appear in clusters of 1-3, along a stem that grows to 50cm high. The blue spiral shape you see in the last photo is actually a dying flower, not a brand new one unfurling. Look out for the flower stalks in spring and summer; after that, you might find the fruit capsules instead.

SOURSOB

(Oxalis pes-caprae)

(Photos: E. Cousins, patch of wasteland full of soursobs; leaf;  flower stem.)

We all know this one, don’t we? Originally introduced as a garden ornamental, soursobs certainly introduce a lot of bright yellow into the garden over winter/spring, with those prolific clusters of flowers…just a pity it is SO invasive!  A significant environmental weed in S.A., it seems to take over suburban gardens and wastelands for several months of the year. A rosette of heart-shaped leaves appear at ground level, followed by the flower stalk. It isn’t enough to rip the fleshy plant out. Underground, there is a tuber-like root, and bulbs and bulbils that persist from year to year, and from which the plant reproduces. You need to be persistent yourself to eradicate these weeds! Glyphosates can be used; grubbing out is difficult because the small bulbs can be left behind, or spread by the soil movement.

Cape Jervis has many colourful plants worthy of a place in a coastal garden but unfortunately they can be hard to find at nurseries. Check out the new red plant signs along Flinders Drive (near the big ugly MAC sign) to find plants you like and ask for them at good native nurseries. Like many exotic plants, natives benefit from pruning after flowering. If you don’t they can become really straggly. Check out the difference between an unpruned plant (left) and one photographed about 4 weeks after pruning in my “city” garden. If you are not sure how much to prune, try removing 20-50%, just make sure there are leaves left behind on all the branches. Some long flowering local native options that benefit from pruning include Vittadinia sp, Senecio lautus, minnie daisy (Minuria leptophylla) and coastal tobacco (Nicotiana maritima).

Yellow buttons (Chrysocephalum apiculatum) before (left) and after (right) pruning

Next get together, Sat Oct 10 (Spring wildflower walk) & Sun 11 (TBA)

We welcome new volunteers.  Contact Carolyn Schultz 0423 213 481.

YORRELL

(Eucalyptus gracilis)

(Photos: C. Schultz, leaves and buds; flowers; Cape Jervis )

Although the yorrell is common in SA, we only know of a handful around Cape Jervis … and these are much smaller than ones growing elsewhere (2-3 metres, vs 8-15 metres). Once again, the harsh soils and wild, windy weather at the Cape have worked together to reduce the size of the local specimens. The multiple trunks shed their bark in short ribbons higher up, exposing smooth white wood; lower down the bark persists like a collar around the base. Leaves are long and narrow, hairless, often glossy, sometimes with a red margin. Each of the up to seven white flowers in a cluster have two rows of stamens, and no petals. Their buds are smooth with a cap shorter than the base part, while the gumnuts are barrel-shaped. ‘Gracilis’ means slender or graceful, describing the habit of the yorrell beautifully.

BLACKBERRY NIGHTSHADE

(Solanum nigrum)

(Photos: E. Cousins, plant, cluster of young fruit)

Known by many other names such as black nightshade, this erect, bushy weed is well-known to many of us, because it spreads so easily on roadsides, waste ground, cracked footpaths etc. It is native to a band of countries from Morocco to India. Don’t confuse this weed with deadly nightshade (Altropa belladonna). Blackberry nightshade has pendant clusters of white flowers (with a hint of purple) and slightly hairy leaves. The flowers of deadly nightshade are individual. Leaves are a dull green, also with a purplish tinge. The fruit are dull green when young (see photo), but darken to a dull purple later. See the way the 5 little sepals (leaf like tissue surrounding the flower) sit apart on the top of the fruit? This helps distinguish this solanum from others.