Little Desert National Park

Little Desert National Park Stringybark & Loop Walks Follow the numbered pegs along these spectacular springtime loop walks showcasing the Little Deserts plant diversity.

4. Creeping Muntries (Kunzea pomifera) Nearby is a spreading low plant which has pea- sized fruits that resemble a tiny apple. Hence its Latin names ‘pommum’ – apple or fruit, and ‘fere’ - to make or produce.

3. Scrub She-Oak (Allocasuarina paludosa) Take notice because there is a similar plant later in the walk. At first glance the ‘leaves’ look like pine needs. Upon a 30 minutes return closer inspection you will see the 30 minutes return needles are really branchlets (cladodes), and each of the joints is really a ring of leaves that are reduced to scales. This brochure is for Walk 1.Stringybark Walk. Both Stringybark and Lodge Loop A hand lens walks have a number of plant species is handy to signposted. see this clearly. Look carefully during late winter and spring for small orchids flowering that are not easily found in drier months. See over page.

1. Desert Stringybark (Eucalyptus arenacea) Common tree in the Park, Stringybark’s are a gumtree (eucalypt) with long fibrous strands of bark along the whole trunk and branches. They are in the same plant genus as gums, boxes and peppermints – all of which have a flower bud covered by a small cap which falls off as the flower opens. It grows rather dwarfed here in the Little Desert due to low soil nutrient levels. It grows much taller in other areas of the state.

2. Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata) Delicious bottle- brush shaped flowers dripping with nectar make banksias a favourite food for insects, honeyeaters and pygmy possums. This small shrub is distinguished from other banksias by the shape of its dark green leaves with a ‘silvery’ white under-surface. They can grow up to 6m trees in the more fertile soils. 5. Violet Honey-myrtle (Melaleuca wilsonii) This soils were quarried for road construction spreading, low growing moisture loving shrub may get years ago. three metres tall in other parts of the park with richer soils. Bright lilac flowers appear in late spring and summer. 7. Grass shelter – a prickly fortress Called ‘Porcupine’ grass Triodia irritans is aptly The melaleuca genus name is derived from the Greek words named. You will understand why smaller ‘melos’ meaning black and ‘leukos’, white. Apparently the first animals like skinks, insects and small birds, like trees recorded by botanists had been burnt and their trunks living within the safe protection of these were black and white. tussocks. Small native mammals, reptiles, birds and insects live here. Can you see any animal 6. Changes underfoot tracks? Loose sandy soil gives way to clay rich soils along here. Can you notice? If not, look closely 8. Weeping Yellow Gums are not at the plant varieties! The most dominant tree common. There is an example of a partly here is Yellow Gum (Eucalyptus weeping specimen twenty metres behind leucoxylon). It has a different smooth bark texture to the peg. Desert Stringybark and the fruit and leaf shape are also different to the Desert Stringybark. 9. Tassel Rope-rush (Hypolaena fastigiata) Mat rush, sedge, spear grass These larger trees provide very important open hollows and numerous other small plants, form for animals such as bats, lizards, parrots, possums and important groups of ground cover and sugar gliders to shelter, nest or hide in. make up much of the understorey cover protecting the parks small wildlife. This is a good place to bird-watch after rain. These depressions in front of you were made when the clay

For more information call the Parks Victoria Information Centre on 13 1963 or visit our website at ww w .parkweb.vic.go v .a u Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria 10.Mallee Honey-myrtle (Melaleuca 17. acuminate) Pale yellow flowers appearing in late spinosa) spring/early summer. Its leaves narrow to a fine Sweet Bursaria varies in form from point, and are described as ‘acuminate’. The a woody shrub, to a small tree and Latin work ‘acus’ means needle. occurs across Victoria.

Look carefully on the sandy track for interesting marks in the sand that may be tracks formed by slithering, walking, hopping, crawling animals.

11. Yellow Gums indicate a change in soil type again. Everything you see above the ground is in relationship with the ground beneath it.

Can you notice other plants that occur mainly with these trees? TIP: Look for the bright red and yellow bells of the Common Correa (Correa reflexa)

12. Brush Heaths (Brachyloma ericoides) Small low growing and one of the parks most common plants. They attracts many nectar feeding birds and insects. The subtle pink flowers make the plant more obvious in winter.

13.Desert or Flexile Hakea (Hakea muelleriana) Flowering in late spring this spiky and tattered plant has distinctive thick, woody seed capsules that protect the seed safely inside from wildfire. It generally only opens up to shed its seed after fire or severe drought.

Stringybark Walk loop track returns to the right at this intersection. Continue left for a further two loop options if you have time.

14. The Grey Mulga (Acacia brachybotrya) wattle grows between two and three metres high. Look again. Its leaves are not leaves at all! Wattles have adapted to hot dry conditions by flattening their leaf stalks to appear as leaves. Called ‘phyllodes’ they are grey-green stiff and hairy. The gold, fluffy flowers are ball shaped and appear in spring, leaving many seeds for insects and birds in the following months.

15. Daphne Heath (Brachyloma daphnoides) is widespread in the park and this small low plant has white tubular flowers in spring. Its specific name ‘daphnoides’ means ‘like daphne’.

16. Native pine trees. (Callitris rhomboidea) Distinguished by the shape of their spiky cones they are different from the other two smoother cone species of cypress pine occurring here. Many young seedlings can be seen replacing the old dead tree. Woody seed cones are an important source of food for parrots and ants. It has cream/white fragrant flowers. ‘Bursa’ means ‘purse’, and refers to the shape of the plants seed pods.

18. Dwarf She-Oak (Allocasuarina pusilla) Look carefully. Two kinds of She-Oak are growing here. The Scrub She-Oak from Stop 3 and the Dwarf She-Oak with bluish tinge to the foliage and the cladodes (finer leaf-teeth).

19. Silky Tea-tree (Leptospermum myrsinoides), at the peg, is found in sandy heathlands throughout Victoria. The fruits of this plant are food for the Silky Desert Mouse – a small native mammal common in the Park.

20. Desert Banksia (Banksia ornata) Tough, hard saw-toothed leaves are characteristic of this plant along with its lemon coloured winter flowers. The can-sized bottle- brush flowers attract many nectar feeding insects, birds and mammals. A bushland supermarket special - highly popular!

The sharp eye may notice a variety of spring flowering native orchids. Their specialised roots systems sustain them through long dry periods. The leaves may only be present in winter and spring. Most of these grow less than 30cm tall.

Spring Orchids listed left to right: Greenhood, Spider Orchid, Pink Fingers and Sun Orchid.

Icon of the Little Desert The Little Desert National Park is home to the Lowan or Malleefowl. Pressures from land clearing, fox predation, chemicals and frequency of wildfire threaten their survival.

The Little Desert and its surrounding bushland areas is the last hope for the Malleefowls survival in the Wimmera. Healthy Parks, Healthy People The Little Desert National Park is an excellent example, and a direct result of regional communities fighting to protect, conserve and balance their agricultural and conservation practices. Local people fought successfully to ensure a healthy legacy for future generations.

Plant drawings from L.Costermans, Native Trees and Shrubs of S.E Australia. Updated April 2012