Next Meeting

A visit to the West Gippsland APS group for a talk "Grevillea Cultivars" by Neil Marriot.

Date: Wednesday November 18, 2009
Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: McMillan Campus of the Education centre Gippsland, South Road Warragul.

Leader's Report

Around our garden we found Anigozanthos ‘hybrid’ Kangaroo Paw ‘Triple Treat’, Grevillea ‘Molly’, Alyogyne huegelli ‘Native Hibiscus’ both forms of the purple and white flowers, Callistemon ‘Kings Park Special’ is covered in Red flowers, Banksia petiolaris prostrate form and Verticordia chrysantha is a mass of Yellow flowers H50cm x W60cm.

Our Nov meeting is our second visit to the West Gippsland APS Group to hear the Talk on ‘Grevillea Cultivars’ by Neil Marriott. As we know this will be another great night with Neil and our friends of the West Gippsland Group.

Please put your thinking caps on, as we need to come up with some ideas for our 2010 calendar. What you would like to hear about or do, where you would like to go for a weekend or day trips as we are having a General meeting on Thursday 10th Dec.

Many thanks to Mark for writing up our last two talks.

Sturt National Park Talk Presented by Denis Nagle

Denis showed us his photos taken when he went on a field research trip to the Sturt National Park with a group studying at the Charles Sturt University. Nine people were on the trip.

The Sturt National park is in the far corner of NW NSW, it was created in 1972 and covers 340,000 Ha. It was formed from 6 sheep stations and still has homesteads and farm equipment that form part of the park’s history. Winter is a good time to visit the area.

The trip was over a couple of weeks and the participants stayed a number of interesting places, such as, the underground hotel at White Cliffs and in shearers’ quarters. Denis presented 200 pictures of various plants, animals, activities and locations. On the trip Denis was able to learn how to handle lizards, and how to get good photographs of them (ie. create a mock up environment, and place the animal it!). The trip included bird surveys, pit trap surveys, and a demonstration of how bird specimens are preserved.

Some of the animals that Denis photographed were the Shingleback lizard (Trachydosaurus rugosus), Bynoe’s Gecko (Heteronotia binoei), Central Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps), Smooth Knob Tailed Gecko (Nephrurus levis), Legless Lizard (Delma tincta), Wallaroo or Euro (Macropus robustus), and Emus. A junk yard at Mt Wood Homestead was a good place to find reptiles. Some notable bird examples were of a Wedge Tailed Eagle nest where a camera was set up in a tree and Bourke’s Parrot (Neopsephotus bourkii).

Some notable plants were the Sturt’s Desert Pea (Swainsona Formosa), Lepard Wood (Flindersia maculosa), mistletoes, River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), coolabah tree (Eucalyptus microtheca), sandalwoods (Santalum lanceolatum). One particularly interesting picture was a western bloodwood (Corymbia tumescens) that showed that it had been tied in a knot many years ago by aboriginals as a signal. Differences in vegetation could be seen comparing stony ridges and channels that occasionally have water. The Acacia called Dead Finish (Acacia tetragonaphylla) is a notable plant in that is survives better than most, it can be seen where everything else is dead.

There were some less scientific pursuits during the trip too, such as, as tug-o-war at the annual Tibooburra Festival!

Frogs Talk Presented by Max Sargent

Max teaches students at the Morwell Primary School and has a keen interest in frogs. He has been taking students on field trips to the Morwell River Wetlands since 2001. Where he grew up in Morwell, in the town, frog calls were absent.

Plenty of information on Australian frogs can be found at http://www.frogsaustralia.net.au/ and http://frogs.org.au/.

Male frogs call to attract females to the water for mating. Frogs also produce territorial calls.

In the Latrobe Valley we have twelve species of frogs. Some of the frogs we heard at the Morwell River Wetlands were the Pobblebonk (only one), Southern Brown Tree Frog, Common Froglet, Whistling Tree Frog, and Striped Marsh Frog.

Common Froglet (Crinia signifera)

This frog is the most numerous in the area, they are very easy to hear being numerous and extremely loud, but not normally seen. Their voice is a creeking/rasping sound. They are recognisable by their spotted black on white markings on their underside.

Growling Grass Frog (Litoria raniformus)

This frog has a very deep voice, and it is rarely seen around the Latrobe Valley. Previously it used to be much more common and is now considered as a threatened species. The fences beside the highway near Pakenham are present to prevent the growling grass frogs from crossing the road and being killed.

Southern Brown Tree Frog (Litoria ewingi)

This frog is often seen climbing windows. The colour varies considerably, but it has pads that are wider than the digits.

Whistling Tree Frog (Litoria verreauxi)

This frog has a penetrating whistle call, it is higher in pitch than the brown tree frog, but it can be difficult to distinguish between the two frogs. I though the sound was like a cricket. The Crinigan Reserve is now mowed so we don’t hear the whistling tree frog anymore.

Peron’s Tree Frog (Litoria peroni)

This frog has bright colouration on hidden parts of its body such as its armpits and groin. It is identified by cross shaped pupils.

Pobblebonk Frog (Limnodynastes dumerilii)

This frog makes a ‘bonk’ or ‘pobblebonk’ sound. Some members have dug them up in the garden or found them in the mulch. Marg hears them when her tank overflows. It is a large brown frog that burrows.

Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peroni)

This frog has dark stripes down the length of its body, and produces a ‘cluck, cluck, cluck’ sound like a chicken.

Spotted Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis)

This frog has dark green blotches and makes a sound like sticks being struck.

Plants in My Garden

By Mike Beamish

Ricinocarpus
'Bridal Star'


 
Fruit Detail

Species: Ricinocarpus 'Bridal Star'
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Derivation:

Ricinocarpus: From the Latin ricinus, meaning a tick or referring to the Castor Oil Plant Ricinus communis, and the Greek carpos, meaning a fruit. The allusion is not clear as to whether the fruit resembles a tick or the fruit of the Castor Oil Plant!

cyanescens: From the Latin cyaneus, meaning dark blue, with the suffix -escens-, meaning -ish, referring to colour of the foliage when dried.

tuberculatus: From the Latin tuberculum, meaning a small swelling, in the botanical sense meaning covered with small, wart-like protuberances, referring to the fruits.

Common Name: Wedding Bush
Distribution: WBoth the parent plants are endemic to Western Australia, this hybrid was produced by Lullfitz Nursery.
Description:A shrub to 3 metres tall and 2 metres broad with dark green, linear leaves to 25mm long. Bright white, starry, perfumed flowers to 20mm diameter are produced profusely in spring, usually with a group of male flowers clustered around a female flower which turns into a warty, globular capsule.
Opinion: I usually don’t bother with man-made hybrid plants, but I’ve tried several specimens of the local Ricinocarpus pinifolius in the garden over the years with no success, probably due to less than perfect drainage, so when I saw this one for sale at Bunnings, I buckled and decided to give it a go. Consequently, I have been rewarded with a couple of years of solid growth and terrific floral displays. The plant is in the northern bed adjacent to the pathway around the frogpond, where it gets plenty of light and is planted over the drainage system installed when the garden was constructed. So it shouldn’t suffer from wet feet, even with all the rain we have had lately. The perfume is wonderful, particularly on those warm, sunny and humid spring days and attracts a variety of flying insects to the flowers, such as hoverflies and various beetles. A spot of judicious pruning might be on the cards this year as some branches are beginning to encroach upon the footpath. I have failed miserably with my attempts to strike cuttings of R. pinifolius in the past, but some cuttings of ‘Bridal Star’ were taken a couple of months ago and these are still alive and looking as if they might kick on. I’ve also collected a few of the ripe capsules and extracted some seed, so I’ll see if any of it is viable next time I have the time to play in the coldframe.

Sources: Wrigley & Fagg - Australian Native Plants, 5th edition
Sharr- WA Plant Names & their Meanings