Australian Plants online - Subscribers' Newsletter Number 3 - April 1998

Australian Plants online - Subscribers' Newsletter

Number 3 - April 1998


Published by The Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants

CONTENTS

  1. Better Late Than........?
  2. More on the Site Transfer
  3. A Name for the Newsletter?
  4. Poverty-stricken Emus
  5. Some Dates for Your Diary
  6. Propagation of Persoonia
  7. Bouncing Taxonomy
  8. Phyto-extractors
  9. Eucs in Cold Climates
  10. Seaside Daisy
  11. Biological control of Onopordum thistles
  12. Contact with Dutch Flower Growers
  13. Bush Tucker in the 1890s



1. Better Late Than........?

Well....I almost made it!. The March issue of "Australian Plants online" has now been published on the SGAP web site. The delay was due to last minute hassles in getting our new site operational. Hopefully this has now been accomplished.

The URL of the new site (main page) is:

http://www.silo.riv.com.au/SGAP/

and the March 1998 issue of APOL is at:

http://www.silo.riv.com.au/SGAP/APOL9/ac98-1.html

but it's also linked from the main page.



In the March issue you will find:

Australian Floral Emblems 9; Eucalyptus globulus
The "Tasmanian Blue Gum" is the floral emblem of Tasmania.

Australian Climbing Plants
What goes up.......usually stays there!

Medicinal Properties and Bush Foods of eucalypts
Eucalypts have proved highly valuable to both aborigines and European settlers.

A Protean Garden in California
Australian and South African plants flourish far from home.

An Introduction to Ferns
Some hardy ferns for cultivation, indoors and outside.

A Short History of Grevillea Cultivation in England
Grevilleas were introduced in the "old dart" as early as 1792!

Using Spaces and Styles in Overall Garden Design
How to achieve a practical and spacious landscape

Electronic Mailbox
Problems, comments, suggestions...and a few answers.

Short Cuts
Mycorrhizas in native flora; Growing grasses; The Wee Jasper Grevillea; Autumn - a time to rejuvenate the garden; The Ranunculus family in OZ; The genus Lomatia.

A Good Read
Reviews of some current publications on the Australian flora.

Net Watch
Sites worth visiting...you're sure to agree!

Odds and Ends
A novel approach to pest control; Australian native plants for Olympic bouquets; Tree poisonings; New cultivars; Media watch and more.



2. More on the Site Transfer

Firstly......when updating bookmarks please ensure that you enter the new URL in the correct case. The letters "SGAP" and "APOL" must be in upper case. Failure to appreciate this cost me about 2 weeks in the transfer process!

The transfer has not been without a few traumas and it's possible that errors exist somewhere in the site. So, if you come across dead, missing or incorrect links, missing graphics or anything else that just doesn't look right, please let me know.

What about the old site? It will be gradually disassembled although redirection notices will be maintained on the most popular pages for the foreseeable future. Eventually the New South Wales Region of the Society will develop a home page there.



3. A Name for the Newsletter?

Thanks to those who sent suggestions for a name for this newsletter. Some of the suggestions were:

"Paperbark" , "Netbush", "Notebush", "Aussie Plant Connection", "Aussie Flora Helpline", "Australian Plants Networking".

I'm not sure that we're quite there yet so, if you have any inspired suggestions, let me know. As I said last time....suggestions can be serious or (preferably) frivolous!



4. Poverty-stricken Emus

The genus Eremophila contains over 200 species and includes some of the most colourful flowering plants in the Australian flora. they are well suited to gardens in drier climates but many can also be grown in wetter areas.

The new Eremophila Page at:

http.www.silo.riv.com.au/SGAP/eremoph.html

(or via a link from the "Guide to Australian Plants" section)

follows the format of other pages for acacia, banksia, etc. Six species are illustrated and described and there is general information on propagation and cultivation.

Did I mention that eremophilas are known as "emu bushes" or "poverty bushes"?



5. Some Dates for Your Diary

Santa Cruz, California - Protea Festival

Friday 3 to Sunday 5 April at The Arboretum, University of California, Santa Cruz.

A symposium with Rodger Elliott (Australia), Dr. Gail Littlejohn (South Africa) and Dennis Perry, Brett Hall (USA). Garden tours, plant and book sales. Call 408 427 2998

Campbelltown, New South Wales - Plant Sale/Art Show

Saturday 18 to Sunday 19 April 1998 at Mt Annan Botanic Garden, Campbelltown.

A wide range of displays and activities is being arranged including propagation demonstrations (grafting and cutting), guided tours of the nursery and collections, guided walks through the Botanic garden, art works based on the Australian flora, even a wine tasting! ....and lots, lots, lots of plants for sale!.

The Botanic Garden entrance is signposted on Narellan Road, about 1 km north of the Camden exit from the South Western Freeway.

Grovely, Queensland - Plant Sale

Sunday 19 April 1998

An annual sale with many species not commonly available and including native daisies, grevilleas, bush tucker plants, etc. The sale will be held at the Grovely TAFE college.



6. Propagation of Persoonia

Chris Nancarrow (cdn02@uow.edu.au) of the University of Wollongong is commencing a research project into the propagation and conservation biology of three sympatric Persoonia species (a member of the Proteaceae family). The species include: P. chamaepitys, P. myrtilloides and P. levis which all occur together in the Blue Mountains and Newnes State forest regions, west of Sydney. Chris needs to know whether any attempts have been made into the propagation of any of these three species and would like to hear from anyone who can offer any information (presumably positive or negative!)

If you can help, please contact Chris directly.



7. Bouncing Taxonomy

Tim Longville from the UK has a conundrum (do you like that word? ...oh) for readers.

He'd like to know "What's the current state of scholarly opinion about the place of origin of what's now called Paraserianthes lopthantha? I seem to remember hearing or reading somewhere that it's no longer thought of as an Australian native but as an introduced plant. Questions then become: who introduced it? when? where from? I'm inspired to ask the question by the fact that, throughout this exceptionally mild winter here, my potted specimen has been flowering its socks off in a sheltered corner of the garden. And as I write in mid-Feb. has, having begun in early November, clearly got at least another month to go. Now that's what I call earning your keep."

He also asks, "Come to that, what's the taxonomists' reasoning behind bouncing the poor brute around over the years, like a demented pinball, between acacia, albizzia and, now, paraserianthes? And what are the distinguishing features, in general, between albizzia and paraserianthes?"

P.lopthantha is the plant which is still more commonly cultivated as Albizzia lopthantha and a few years ago it was reclassified to Paraserianthes. Tim is right when he says that some ecologists think that the plant isn't a true native species.

Can anyone shed some light on this mystery?



8. Phyto-extractors

"A Question for the readers:

I'm looking for a list of plants known to be Phyto-extractors, or better said: Hyper-accumulators. Both of which are intended to mean that they take up metals in their root system. My research is in phytoremediation of metal contaminated soils and old mine sites.

Any help will be appreciated.

Many thanks, Len Walde (sigma@ix.netcom.com)"



9. Eucs in Cold Climates

Henry Barlow (habarlow@odyssey.on.ca) lives in Ontario, Canada where growing eucalypts gives new meaning to the word "challenge"! Henry writes....

"Over a period of almost two years, I have been attempting to grow eucalypts from seed. I have done so in the past, but with species that could not withstand the climate of Southern Ontario. I have therefore sought to find a variety that would survive, and from my limited reading, decided that my best bet might be Tasmanian Snow Gums (Eucalyptus coccifera). My first attempt with these seeds was a failure, because at, the time, I was not aware of such a preparation as "Cold Moist Statification". Our libraries are better suited to the study of spruce and maples, rather than eucalypts.

I managed to obtain a pamphlet published by "Greening Australia", covering CMS. However I still have a problem. The pamphlet stated that the snow gum subspecies (E.pauciflora subsp.

pauciflora, subsp. niphophila and subsp. debeuzevillei) need 3, 4 and 6 weeks stratification, respectively. No mention is made of COCCIFERA. My enquiry is of course, how long does the Tasmanian Snow Gum seeds need?

I would be very grateful for any help you could give me."

Sounds like a job for a Tasmanian....but others can comment too! If you have any info for Henry, please let me know as well...it would be useful as a reference for future enquiries.



10. Seaside Daisy

Mona Meachem (sunnydaze@webtv.net) from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA is trying to track down an Australian plant called "seaside daisy".

"I truly hope you can help me with a problem in identifying a certain Australian flower. I have friends who live in Melbourne who mention a plant called a "seaside daisy". I have tried to find reference to this plant in U.S. nurseries, but have yet to find anyone familiar with the term. The botanical name isn't available to me. Are you familiar with this flower? Does it go by another "general" name? Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated."

I've already replied to Mona explaining that there are many daisy-like plants around the Australian coast and outlining the problems of common names with Australian plants as an excuse for being unable to help! My best guess was a Carpobrotus species, possibly Carpobrotus rossii, one of the "pigfaces". Anyone got any better ideas??



11. Biological control of Onopordum thistles

Bill Pettit of the Biocontrol of Weeds Section, CSIRO Division of Entomology is interested in locating some seed of Microseris scapigera (= M.lanceolata) . This is to be used for the quarantine testing of the specificity of biological control agents imported from Mediterranean Europe for the control of Onopordum thistles.

This is not the sort of plant usually stocked by commercial seed suppliers so, if anyone knows of a source, could they contact Bill direct (bill.pettit@ento.csiro.au).



12. Contact with Dutch Flower Growers

Rudi van der Voort (voortrvd@freemail.nl) who works for Chrysco Flowers in Cranbourne, Victoria has contacts with plant growers in Holland who are interested in seeds or cuttings of:

* Xanthostemon "Golden Penda"

* Megashempasma erythrochlamys

* Leucanaultia "Bylobo blue"

He is interested in contacting Australian growers who are interested in co-operative growing.



13. Bush Tucker in the 1890s

I've recently been doing some research into my family history and, through a relative in Western Australia, have had access to a letter written to my grandfather by his brother, John, who undertook a cattle drive from the Pilbara district to Geraldton in 1896. One part of the letter mentions his use of cabbage palms as food and I've reprinted the extract below for those who might be interested in early European use of bush foods. The species used was probably Livistona mariae.

"Extract from letter from by John Lyons to William Lyons

Kimberley WA

3/1/1887

Dear Will,

I hope by this time all of you have enjoyed the coming of the new year as much as last and I trust it may be a better one for all. I suppose you had the picnic at Marong on New Years Day as usual. I would have liked to been there but I had a picnic of my own, one that I will not forget in a hurry. I was out with two shipmates and on the New Years Morning we ate all the grub we had with us and to make matters worse one of them got his eyes bunged up that morning. I never saw such peepers on a man before, he could not see in the middle of the day so when we came to a nice spring in the middle of a clump of cabbage palms we made up our minds to camp till next morning. We had nothing to eat but a pigeon which I shot with my rifle and as we had a tomahawk we cut down a Palm tree and between the pigeon and the cabbage we had our first dinner in the new year 1887. You cannot think what Cabbage Palms are like, they are something to really see. They are about 10-15 inches thick at the bottom and the same thickness at the top and grow about 60-70 feet high and not a branch on the barrel except on the top where the palm leaves branch out in a bunch 8-9 feet long and the part you eat is the stump between the barrel and where the branches sprout out. It eats just like the inside of cabbage stump and can be cooked or eaten raw and is first class."



Finally.......

"The sound of the breeze through the grove of eucalyptus trees at the airport gateway was always there like a welcome home. Somehow, he always found it reassuring when he came back from his trips. It was one of the things he loved about the city and he was glad it always greeted him."

An interesting description, don't you think? Someone arriving home at Sydney airport, perhaps? Perth? Melbourne? Oodnadatta?

As it happens the extract is from "The Last Coyote" by Michael Connelly and describes the character's feelings as he drives away from....Los Angeles Airport.

Interesting.....

Best wishes

Brian


Brian Walters,
Society for Growing Australian Plants (SGAP)
Email; brianwal@pnc.com.au (personal or SGAP)
sgap@ozemail.com.au (SGAP only)

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