Monthly Archives: June 2015

Plant of the Month – June 2015

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BLACK-ANTHER FLAX LILY

(Dianella revoluta)

       

(Photos: E. Cousins; growth habit; flowers and buds)

You can see from the pictures above why this plant is commonly called the black-anther flax lily: those pretty blue flowers have black stamens, with an orangey-yellow base to them. The plant grows about shin high, with very stiff, blue-green leaves which fold together at their base. You are most likely to see the flowers in spring and early summer. The wiry flower spikes sit above the leaves, to about knee high at Cape Jervis. There are several branches per spike, and several flowers per branch, with one flower on a branch opening per day. The six flower petals bend backwards, ‘reflexed’. After the flowers, you get pretty dark-blue seed pods. Adaptable to most soil types, the plants are also hardy, and can produce quite large clumps over a period of time, making them a very useful garden plant.

Weed of the Month – June 2015

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LINCOLN WEED or WILD ROCKET

(Diplotaxis tenuifolia)

(Photos: E. Cousins; Cape Jervis)

We recently found this declared weed on a hillside at Cape Jervis, while we were looking for Lemon Beauty Heads. Lincoln Weed is an erect plant with dark green leaves and yellow flowers. The flowers have four short rounded petals (about 1cm in length); they occur in small clusters at the end of the flower stems. The dark green leaves occur on the lower stems. They are shaped like a lance, with lower leaves often having several lobes. If you crush the leaves, you might recognize the aroma…the plant is a member of the mustard family. Though versions of rocket are used in salads aplenty these days, this one has been reported as being toxic to stock. It reproduces both from seed and by branching from its long taproot, which needs to be removed if you are hand weeding.

Plant of the month – May 2015

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WHITE FANFLOWER

(Scaevola albida)

(Photos: E. Cousins; plant amongst others, flowers)

Though this plant can grow upwards, we normally see it as a prostrate shrub around Cape Jervis, growing only to about shin high. Although the name would suggest the flowers are white, they actually vary and are normally more blue than white around Cape Jervis. And no, they haven’t all been eaten by snails, leaving just half a flower! This lopsided flower shape is what makes fanflowers easy to identify: the petals only grow on one half, like a fan or a hand. The oval leaves are bright green, and like the flower colour, can vary in look: they will be smooth or hairy. Look for the flowers in spring. It really is a pretty little plant.

Weed of the Month – May 2015

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FEATHERTOP

(Pennisetum villosum)

                   

(Photos: C. Schultz, Cape Jervis)

This is a tufted grass, up to 1 m tall, on the S.A. environmental weed list. The leaves are narrow, mostly hairless, and droopy. Where the leaf sheath meets the leaf blade is a ring of hairs, like a collar. The spiky seed-heads are up to 12cm in length, composed of long, feathery bristles. They are  greenish-white when young, fading to white, cream then a straw colour. The flower head is made up of lots of little spikelets, surrounded in turn by long whitish bristles. It is these bristles that give the plant its feathery appearance. The seeds, with their bristles, are dispersed by the wind, or carried on animals, clothing, vehicles, etc. This weed is similar to another weed, Fountain grass (Cenchus or Pennisetum setaceum). If you do like This is a tufted grass, up to 1 m tall, on the S.A. environmental weed list. The leaves are narrow, mostly hairless, and droopy. Where the leaf sheath meets the leaf blade is a ring of hairs, like a collar. The spiky seed-heads are up to 12cm in length, composed of long, feathery bristles. They are  greenish-white when young, fading to white, cream then a straw colour. The flower head is made up of lots of little spikelets, surrounded in turn by long whitish bristles. It is these bristles that give the plant its feathery appearance. The seeds, with their bristles, are dispersed by the wind, or carried on animals, clothing, vehicles, etc. This weed is similar to another weed, Fountain grass (Cenchus or Pennisetum setaceum). If you do like their feathery effect though, try planting Cenchus advena…this is a nonseeding hybrid, so it won’t become invasive!

Carolyn’s Corner – May 2015

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Bringing back the Glossies: when will the plan become a reality? Hopefully in the next few years! Glossy black cockatoos are fussy buggers. They only eat the seed pods of the drooping she-oak, Allocasaurina verticillata. We had a visit in April from two researchers, Karleah and Mike, from the KI Glossy Black-Cockatoo Recovery Program. They were impressed with the extensive she-oak plantings around the Cape that started with Greening Australia ≈ 17 years ago. Other groups have contributed including COOTs, Cape Jervis & Delamere Progress Association and CJCCG. Keep your eyes and ears open; for the distinctive “chewings” at the base of trees, and their noisy, creaky, wheezy calls (http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Calyptorhynchus-lathami. Will you be the first person at the Cape to spot one?

Photos R Tipper. Glossy black facts – Natural Resources South Australia

Next get together – Tree Planting, Jun 5 & 6 2015. Training & cake provided.

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