Budawangia* an E-Newsletter for All Those Interested in the Native Plants of the Nsw South Coast

BUDAWANGIA* AN E-NEWSLETTER FOR ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN THE NATIVE PLANTS OF THE NSW SOUTH COAST Contact: Dr Kevin Mills – [email protected] No. 45 - December 2015 Aims: To connect those interested in the native flora of the NSW South Coast, to share up to date information on the flora of the region and to broaden the appreciation of the region’s native plants. Editorial This month sees the end of another year and heading towards the end of four years of this newsletter. This edition contains a piece on another rare plant community found in the Shellharbour area, a note on an interesting mini Oak species and the mystery weed is revealed. The term crosier is explained and there is a note on Bedfordia, a very large species in the Asteraceae. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL I wish all readers a happy and safe Christmas, whether in the bush, at the beach or around the barbeque. Perhaps you will find time to contribute a note to our newsletter. Hope to catch up with many of you in the new year. Prostanthera lasianthos, known as Christmas Bush in Victoria. A reminder to readers that a free plant identification service is available by sending a photograph, scan or specimen of the plant to me; contact information is shown on this page. I would be pleased to receive appropriate articles, however small, on interesting observations, new discoveries, plant name changes, etc., up to two A4 pages, including some photographs. Deadline is one week before the end of the calendar month. Kevin Mills, Jamberoo, NSW. Tel. 02 4236 0620 All photographs ©Kevin Mills 2015, unless otherwise stated. * Budawangia was a monotypic, endemic genus named in 1992 and restricted to the Budawang Range on the western edge of the South Coast region. This genus was discarded in September 2015 with the publication of a review of Epacris. The newsletter retains the name in memory of this once endemic genus and the mountains bearing the name. Page | 1 Melaleuca armillaris Tall Shrubland The Lake Illawarra Basin is in a rain shadow, that is the mountains to the west and, most particularly, the south, force rain to fall before the weather systems reach this area. The rainfall around the lake is considerably lower than that on the escarpment and in the valleys to the south. One outcome of this is that the area’s original vegetation was dominated by ‘dry communities’. This includes a shrubland dominated by Bracelet Honey-myrtle Melaleuca armillaris. This shrubland grows on dry rocky ridges associated with the Permian Gerringong Volcanics, particularly in the hills in Shellharbour. Locations include Killalea State Park, Dunmore Hills and parts of Jamberoo Valley. In addition to M. armillaris, the community contains a distinctive suite of species, some of which are not found in the surrounding forests or other vegetation. These species include Cheilanthes distans, Plectranthus graveolens, Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustifolia, Prostanthera linearis and the endangered local endemic shrub Zieria granulata Flower spikes of Melaleuca armillaris. Stand of Melaleuca armillaris in Killalea State Park. The community is very restricted and much has no doubt been cleared. In 2002 the NSW Scientific Committee listed Melaleuca armillaris Tall Shrubland in the Shellharbour and Kiama LGAs as an endangered ecological community under the Threatened Species Conservation Act, 1995 (NSW). Another M. armillaris community, under higher rainfall and containing a quite different suite of species, occurs along the Far South Coast; that community is common in that area and is not listed as endangered. A small amount of M. armillaris occurs on headlands at Jervis Bay. The Gallipoli Oak – an interesting small species of oak There are some 600 species of Oak Quercus species spread across the northern hemisphere. Quercus calliprinos (Fagaceae), sometimes called Quercus coccifera ssp. calliprinos, is a small tree or large shrub to about five metres tall. Known as the Palestine Oak, it occurs from the western Mediterranean to southwest Asia. As with other oak species, the fruit is a nut called an acorn, which is held in a cup-like structure called a cupule. The small leaves have prickly edges and plants can form impenetrable thickets, which is how they grow on the ridges of Gallipoli. In 1915, the Anzacs found them not to their liking as they fought their way up the heights above what was to become Anzac Cove. In November 1915, after eight months of the Anzacs on the Gallipoli Peninsula, General Sir John Monash wrote: I am sending in a separate packet, a few acorns. I have made the discovery that the prickly scrub, with which these hills are covered, and which has inflicted many an unkind scratch on hands, arms and bare knees, is really a species of holly, and bears an acorn, showing that it belongs to the Oak variety. The bush is quite ornate and grows to a height of about 5 feet, much like the ordinary holly with the red berry.” Page | 2 As with the seeds of the Lone Pine, soldiers brought some acorns back to Australia and planted them. The National Trust reports that these were planted in Victoria. Right. The small, prickly leaves and immature fruit (acorns) of Quercus calliprinos. Near Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, August 2015. Mystery Weed Solved As noted in the last edition, this weed is mainly a species of the grazing lands of the tablelands. The familiar yellow flowers are those of Capeweed Arctotheca calendula (Asteraceae), a native of South Africa. It grows on the coast as a paddock and roadside weed, and sometimes gardens, but is much less common. This species is recognised as a troublesome weed on cropping and grazing properties. Above. An extensive stand of A. calendula growing on a sheep camp on the Southern Tablelands. Left. The yellow flowers of A. calendula. Blanket Bush Blanket Bush Bedfordia arborescens is a large plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It grows as a small tree or large shrub growing in moist forest in far south-eastern Australia; i.e. NSW, ACT, Victoria, Tasmania. The common name comes from the dense soft hairs on the underside of the leaves. The species occurs as far north as Budawang National Park, on the very south-western edge of the region covered in this newsletter. Underside of the leaf of Bedfordia arborescens. Flowering head of Bedfordia arborescens. Page | 3 Crosier and Crozier The term crosier (or crozier) derives from the French and Latin and refers to a person who carries a cross. The use eventually came to mean the crook or staff carried by the person preceding an archbishop. It also refers to the shepherd’s crook. It is the shape of the crosier that we are concerned with here, as it is applied to the unfurling new frond of a fern. Some examples of local ferns, often most attractive, are provided below. Blechnum nudum Dicksonia antarctica Hypolepis glandulifera Polystichum proliferum About ferns Ferns belong to a group of plants called pteridophytes, along with club mosses and horsetails (sometimes termed fern-allies); a note on the word pteridomania appeared in a previous newsletter. Ferns are among the world’s most ancient plants, with fossils present in rocks some 400 million years old. There are over 10,000 species of fern in the world, mostly living in moist, shady places. Australia contains about 420 species, with some 176 of which occur in NSW. Ferns range in size from tiny filmy ferns not much more than one cm long to tree ferns over 15 metres tall. The tallest fern is reputed to be the Norfolk Island Tree Fern Cyathea brownii, which can reach to over 20 metres in height. Page | 4 .

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