Wildflower Society of WA Northern Suburbs Branch Newsletter- May 2020 (Web Page : ns.wsowa.org.au) MEETINGS CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE While we are unable to get together for our monthly guest speaker meeting, an article on a relevant topic will still be published in the newsletter each month for your interest. If you are a Facebook user, you may like to take a look at these pages while our meetings are on hold:- Wildflower Society of Western Australia WA Naturalists’ Club Western Australian Insects Western Australian Fungi Baudin’s 1801-1803 Exploration of the South West Coast In 1800, First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte approved a French expedition to “the coasts of New Holland”, particularly the western and southern coastal regions, for the purpose of “observation and research relating to Geography and Natural History”. The expedition, in 1801-1803, was commanded by Nicolas Baudin in the Geographe, with Jacques Hamelin in the Naturaliste, and for the latter part of the expedition, Louis de Freycinet in the Casuarina. Among the scientific contingent were the notable names: botanist Jean-Baptiste Leschenault, zoologist Francois Peron, geographer Pierre Faure and topo- graphical painter Charles Lesueur. On board also was gardener Antoine Guichenot, remembered in the Australian plant genus Guichenotia, and the only gardener to complete the entire voyage. The expedition made landfall in May 1801 near Cape Leeuwin and voyaged north as far as the Swan River and Rottnest Island for about 3 weeks. Landing par- ties explored Geographe Bay and the Wonnerup Estuary area, with botanist Leschenault noting that the flat country covered with trees around Wonnerup formed a magnificent forest. Nearer to the Swan River, Sub-Lieut Heirisson led a party upriver as far as Hen- ley Brook, while Lieut-Commander Milius collected plant specimens from Garden Island and reported that the woods there were thick, pleasant and sweet smelling. Milius’ party also explored a little way inland from Cottesloe, recording that they found nuts like chestnuts which were roasted and eaten. These were, in fact, Macrozamia fraseri - zamia nuts - which caused severe illness among the sailors! The ex- pedition then headed to Shark Bay and Timor before sailing to Sydney for a refit, where the Casuarina was purchased to replace Hamelin’s Naturaliste which returned to France. Over 200,000 dried and preserved specimens and objects were taken back to France from New Holland, including 1,500 plant species, 640 new to science. Hundreds of species of live plants and trees and over 600 species of seeds were gathered. Live plants and seeds, animals and birds were sent to Empress Josephine Bonaparte’s gardens at Chateau de Malmaison, just out- side Paris. There is no inventory of the gardens, but botanical illustrator Pierre Jo- seph Redoute left a legacy of watercolours and prints, including several plants col- lected in South-western Australia. Anigozanthus flavidus Northern Suburbs (Yellow, or Evergreen, Kan- Free guided nature walks. garoo Paw) is a tall perenni- Each Month al with yellow flowers Run approx 2 hours. which was probably grown Start at 8am. from seed at Malmaison; Melalauca diosmifolia (Green Honey Myrtle), en- demic to the South-west 1st Saturday Landsdale and with a green ‘bottle- Conservation Park. brush’ flower was grown Meet in Landsdale Rd approx there; and Eucalyptus diver- 100 metres east of Evandale sifolia (Soap Mallee or Rd, Darch. Coast Gum), endemic to Contact David 9448 9192 the South Coast and found east of Esperance, with smooth bark and white to creamy-yellow flowers, al- 2nd Saturday Koondoola so features in the artworks. Regional Bushland. Meet in Koondoola Ave The Baudin expedition’s Opposite Burbridge Ave. flora collection was placed with the National Mu- Contact David 9448 9192 seum of Natural History in Paris and mostly con- signed to the Archive until the early 20th century. Unfortunately, collection of data on the voyage was not rigorous – often with dates and sites of 3rd Saturday Lake Gwelup collection not adequately noted. However, the Reserve. collection of around 1,500 flora and fauna draw- Meet Scout Hall car park ings and sketches by Charles Lesueur, held in the near tennis Courts, Museum of Natural History at Le Havre, France, Huntriss Rd, Gwelup. and Redoute’s drawings from Chateau de Contact Christine 94472983 Malmaison, which include 46 Australian plants, are a lasting legacy to the Baudin Expedition of 1801-1803. Christine Curry 4th Saturday Star Swamp Bushland Meet at the Henderson Centre at the end of Groat St, North Beach. Contact Christine 94472983 5th Saturday Trigg Bushland Meet in the car park between St Mary’s School and Millington Reserve (off Elliot rd) Karrinyup. contact David 9448 9192 FROM THE PRESIDENT – May 2020 I hope this message finds you all well and looking forward to the re- laxation in the covid-19 restrictions. It certainly has been an ‘interesting’ time for us all. For the present we have no plans to re- commence monthly general meetings, but it is our hope we will be able to resume meetings towards the end of the year. We are still planning how we will conduct the AGM, which is due in May, but we can extend to a later date as circumstances permit. Our financial returns have been submitted to the Society for their annual account- ing and reporting. The nursery has been maintained by a roster of our volunteers and the plant stock is in good condition. The good news is we are now allowed to reopen to the public under strict conditions and we plan to be back in business as from Thursday 28th May. We are looking forward to getting back together and get things moving again. We will post de- tails to our webpage and the Society’s Facebook and Website. A requirement of reopen- ing is to have a Safety Plan in place, which we are completing, as well as all the neces- sary safety measures to protect the wellbeing of our members and the public. We have a lot of stock on the benches and as we are not able to have our annual plant sales as planned, we are expecting interest from the public as news of the reopening fil- ters through. We have a volunteer training meeting scheduled for Tuesday 26th May to make sure we all understand what is required under the Safety Plan. I am very confident we will manage the reopening successfully and visitors can be confident we have every- thing in place to protect them from the virus. Landsdale Farm has not yet had the approval to reopen as it is in a different category to the nursery, so access will need to be via the northern side gate. Our signs will be dis- played to direct entry. Everything is moving slowly at the moment and I cannot report any progress with the renewal of the Farm licence or the possible relocation discussions with the City of Wan- neroo. But these matters should sort themselves out as the Farm and City get back to op- erating in the post covid-19 world. We are progressing with the proposal to set up on- line sales and a plan has been discussed where we should be able to trial this in the very near future. As you can see, the Newsletter is continuing with some impromptu content and items which we think will keep members connected with branch activities. So any news you want to add, please let David know at [email protected] . Richard Curry President Owing to the cancellation of their May sale, Kings Park have sold some of their plant stock to Zanthorrea nursery. Their plant list is on the Zanthorrea web site. The nursery crew received an email from Geoff and Margaret Daniel, letting us know that they are alive and kicking, bunkered down, but keeping busy. They sent in some photos, one of their Banksia media, which is flowering beauti- fully, one of a Hakea petiolaris ssp petiolaris they got from the nursery a couple of years ago and one showing a Forest Red-tailed Cockatoo, a small flock of them has been deci- mating their silver princesses. A Few Winter Flowers Hakea laurinas are flowering well at the moment and also, like most Hakeas, feeding the Cockatoos with their seed. The nice blue Halgania littoralis is currently flower- ing in our nursery. It is a small shrub to 60cm and grows naturally Carnarvon, Avon Wheatbelt and Mallee regions, so quite a widespread species. Grevillea saccata is one of the many winter flowering Grevilleas brightening up our gardens and giving the honey-eaters something to feed on. A low growing, spreading shrub, it is good for verges, pots and general landscaping. There are many different forms of Grevillea preissii available, from completely prostrate ground-covers to large shrubs over 2 metres tall. They all flower prolifically over the winter months with their typical ‘lanterns’ of, usually red, flowers. There are a few unu- sual yellow colour variants around, which would add a bit of contrast in the garden. Banksia ashbyi (not shown), is also flowering at the moment, dwarf forms are available, more suitable for today’s smaller gardens. Their brilliant orange flowers are spectacular over many months. Banksia prionotes, although larger in size, is a local orange flowered species also currently flowering. .