Society for Growing Australian Plants, Cairns Branch Newsletter 146 February 2015 In this issue… EXCURSION REPORT – MIRRIWINNI, NOVEMBER 2014 ................................ 1 NOVEMBER 2014 SPECIES LIST ............................. 3 BOOK REVIEW ................. 4 FERNS WANTED! .............. 4 CAIRNS SGAP ................ 5 WHAT’S HAPPENING… ...... 5 TABLELANDS SGAP .......... 5 TOWNSVILLE SGAP .......... 5 EXCURSION REPORT – MIRRIWINNI , NOVEMBER 2014 2014’s Christmas breakup saw Cairns SGAP gathering at David Barrow’s property in the foothills of Mt Bartle Frere, not far from Mirriwinni. David and his wife opened up their lovely house, located on the banks of a bouldery rainforest creek and surrounded by gardens of native and exotic tropical beauty. Their driveway crosses the creek and approaches the house through dense trees and neatly maintained lawns. An alternative entry is provided by a wooden footbridge, which has been squeezed into a space between gigantic Xanthostemon chrysanthus (golden pendas). After a pleasant and lazy lunch, we took a slow walk around the garden perimeter and down the creek. A combination of hard work and carefully nurtured natural regeneration had produced an attractive and diverse native garden. After so little rain over the preceding months, things were pretty dry and crispy. Nevertheless, our casual stroll discovered a remarkable diversity of plant life on this small property – 96 species of ferns, fern allies, and flowering plants, with a single cycad thrown in for good measure. Mary and Pauline were able to identify seven orchid species, including a large Robiquetia with its distinctively tangled roots, although sadly none were in flower. Despite the dry conditions, splashes of colour were spotted here and there – the brilliant red fruits of the poison walnut ( Cryptocarya pleurosperma ) and the hidden crimson flowers of Hornstedtia scottiana were attractive finds. All in all, it was an exceptional Christmas break up in a lovely location. 1 Poison Walnut – Cryptocarya pleurosperma A beautiful approach – footbridge to David’s house. Angiopteris evecta Tabernaemontana pandacaqui Hiding amongst the leaf litter, the brilliantly coloured, bird- A tangle of roots in the tree branches pointed to this quite pollinated flowers of Hornstedtia scottiana. substantial Robiquetia gracilistipes 2 November 2014 ARECACEAE ELAEOCARPACEAE Archontophoenix alexandrae Elaeocarpus bancroftii (Kuranda Species list (alexandra palm) quandong) Compiled by Stuart Worboys and Calamus moti (wait-a-while) Elaeocarpus grandis (blue quandong) Mary Gandini Licuala ramsayi (fan palms) EUPHORBIACEAE Ferns and fern allies CYPERACEAE Macaranga involucrata var. Thoracostachyum sumatranum mallotoides ANGIOPTERIDACEAE Macaranga tanarius (macaranga) Angiopteris evecta FLAGELLARIACEAE Flagellaria indica (supplejack) FABACEAE ASPLENIACEAE Acacia celsa (brown salwood) Asplenium nidus (birds nest fern) HEMEROCALLIDACEAE Dianella bambusifolia Austrosteenisia stipularis (northern BLECHNACEAE blood vine) Dianella atraxis Blechnum orientale Castanospermum australe (black PANDANACEAE CYATHEACEAE bean) Freycinetia scandens (climbing Cyathea cooperi (tree fern) Entada phaseoloides (matchbox pandanus) bean) GLEICHENIACEAE Pandanus monticola Dicranopteris linearis Mucuna gigantea (burny bean) ORCHIDACEAE LECYTHIDIACEAE LYGODIACEAE Bulbophyllum baileyi Lygodium reticulatum Barringtonia calyptrata Bulbophyllum prenticei MELASTOMATACEAE OPHIOGLOSSACEAE Cymbidium sp. Ophioglossum pendulum Medinilla balls-headleyi Dendrobium baileyanum *Tristemma mauritiana (tristemma) POLYPODIACEAE Dendrobium discolor (golden orchid) Belvisia mucronata MORACEAE Pomatocalpa macphersonii Drynaria rigida (basket fern) Ficus congesta (redleaf fig) Robiquetia gracilistipes Pyrrosia longifolia (felt fern) Ficus virens ZINGIBERACEAE MYRTACEAE PSILOTACEAE Hornstedtia scottiana Psilotum complanatum Syzygium cormiflorum (bumpy satinash) Psilotum nudum (fork fern) Eudicots Syzygium graveolens SELAGINELLACEAE ACANTHACEAE Syzygium tierneyanum (river cherry) Selaginella australiensis Pseuderanthemum variabile Xanthostemon chrysanthus (golden Selaginella longipinna ANACARDIACEAE penda) WOODSIACEAE Blepharocarya involucrigera (rose PHYLLANTHACEAE Diplazium sp. butternut) Glochidion harveyanum APOCYNACEAE Glochidion sumatranum Conifers and Cycads Alstonia scholaris (milky pine) ZAMIACEAE Cerbera floribunda (cassowary plum) PRIMULACEAE Bowenia spectabilis *Ardisia elliptica (shoe-button Hoya australis ardisia) Ancient Flowering Plants Melodinus australis Maesa dependens Tabernaemontana pandacaqui LAURACEAE (banana bush) PROTEACEAE Cryptocarya mackinnoniana Cardwellia sublimis (northern silky (Mackinnon’s walnut) ARALIACEAE oak) Polyscias australiana (ivory Cryptocarya murrayi Carnavonia araliifolia var. araliifolia basswood) (Caledonian oak) Cryptocarya pleurosperma (poison Schefflera actinophylla (umbrella walnut) Darlingia darlingiana tree) Litsea bindoniana (big-leaf Grevillea baileyana bollywood) CLUSIACEAE Helicia nortoniana (Norton’s silky Garcinia warrenii (native Neolitsea dealbata (bollywood) oak) mangosteen) PIPERACEAE RHIZOPHORACEAE CUNONIACEAE Piper mestonii Carallia brachiata (carallia) Davidsonia pruriens (Davidson’s plum) ROSACEAE Monocots Gillbeea adenopetala (pink alder) Prunus turneriana (almond bark) ARACEAE RUBIACEAE Epipremnum pinnatum DILLENIACEAE *Dillenia sp. Nauclea orientalis (leichhardt tree) Rhaphidophora ?australasica Hibbertia scandens Ophiorrhiza australiana subsp. australiana (Australian snakeroot) Tetracera nordtiana (fire vine) 3 RUTACEAE whose trust he betrayed to obtain anthropological observation, recording Acronychia acronychioides these corpses. The fascination with with acuity simple but significant Melicope rubra recording these activities continued in actions of his workers, and the Melicope xanthoxyloides northeast Queensland, but he does not rainforest aborigines he encountered. report stealing bodies in this Some of Mjöberg’s actions are SAPINDACEAE Diploglottis smithii document. despicable – his unselfconscious graverobbing ambitions are particularly Guioa lasioneura Mjöberg commenced his Queensland reprehensible, even taking into SYMPLOCACEAE explorations in Brisbane, where he account the social sensibility of the Symplocos paucistaminea sought the advice of Frederick age. XANTHOPHYLLACEAE Manoson Bailey. Bailey was still Xanthophyllum octandrum Government Botanist at the age of 90, This book is a fascinating account of (Mcintyre’s boxwood) whom Mjöberg described as “a an outsider’s immersion in the tropical withered patricarch, grown old in the rainforests of north Queeensland. At service of science ”. Mjöberg times a rollicking adventure story, at BOOK REVIEW continued northward, arriving in Cairns others a detailed natural history on 3 January 1913, and finding it a account, it is well worth a read by “A MONGST STONE AGE “dirty swampy little hole, full of those with a broad scientific, EOPLE IN THE UEENSLAND P Q malaria. Typhus and dysentery were anthropological or historical interest in WILDERNESS ” BY ERIC permanent residents. Even the horrific the region. MJÖBERG . HESPERIAN PRESS , Black Death or bubonic plague had PERTH 407 PP , $110. once visited there, but without (WWW.HESPERIANPRESS .COM ). becoming established. Occasionally, FERNS WANTED ! there were rumours of smallpox… On AVAILABLE AT COLLINS the whole, Cairns reminds one of any With the construction of the BOOKSELLERS , SMITHFIELD . small tropical town... There is a sort of Botanic Garden’s new display lethargy in the air. People, who have house well underway, the Gardens Over the last 18 months, I have had settled there, seem somewhat tired the pleasure of involvement as are on the lookout for native ferns and anaemic. When standing still, voluntary scientific editor in an to populate its moist, shaded they have to lean against something, important historical publication. The pockets. and when sitting down, they always translated journals of Eric Mjöberg, a habe to put their feet up on the Swedish scientist who travelled and If anyone has ferns they’d like to nearest chair or table. On every street collected extensively in north corner, there is a hotel or ‘pub’, always donate, please contact Tony Queensland 101 years ago, have filled with many drunken people. ” Roberts directly at the Cairns finally reached the shelves of Botanic Gardens – bookshops. Although he travelled Mjöberg was nothing if not intrepid. [email protected]. extensively in other parts of Australia As a naturalist and field collector, he and the world, I shall focus here on his planned to arrive at the best possible north Queensland experiences. harvest time – the wet season. He reported 19 consecutive days rain Mjöberg was a renaissance man, with whilst camping near Malanda, and 26 interests in anthropology, zoology, and days of rain at Millaa Millaa, and botany. He was a meticulous observer reported the effects of a cyclone on and an avid collector of all natural and the rainforests of the Tablelands on 29 anthropological treasures. He records January 1913. All this time, he was sampling aquatic invertebrates from collecting and preserving thousands of the slime at the bottom of waterholes, vertebrate and invertebrate bartering with Cape York aborigines specimens. Many paragraphs of the for tools and weapons, and skinning book are devoted to the pleasures of an immature cassowary. He actively leeches and scrub itch mites. He encouraged the felling of trees so he reports the only