BUDAWANGIA* AN E-NEWSLETTER FOR ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN THE NATIVE OF THE NSW SOUTH COAST

Contact: Dr Kevin Mills – [email protected]

No. 46 – January 2016

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 Not unusual for Christmas/New Year, the rain came just in time to interrupt the plans of many holiday makers on the coast. The wet beginning to January continued on and off, alternating with hot and humid weather, the total for the month well above average at Jamberoo. Summer storms marked the end of the month.

This month’s edition is a mixed bag of pieces, beginning with an article on a new species of described for the Jervis Bay area. Other pieces include a note on forests of Large-leaved Privet in Jamberoo Valley, Wetland No. 14, a new mystery weed and another ‘plant of the month’. The editorial team out there are slacking off! I mentioned an article on identifying elkhorns and staghorns in the November issue, but it was not therein as I had moved it; the piece appears this month. Below is note on a common Australian genus, the first in a short series to follow in subsequent editions of Budawangia.

Eucalyptus - ‘well-covered’, referring to the operculum covering the flower bud. The first named species was Eucalyptus obliqua (Myrtaceae), gathered from Bruny Island, in 1777 during Cook’s Third Voyage and later named in London by the French botanist L’Heritier. There are about 850 species, almost all endemic to . One species, Eucalyptus deglupta, extends as far north as the Philippines; species also occur in New Guinea and Indonesia. The trees range from the Mountain Ash, one of the tallest trees in the world, to the multi-stemmed mallees of the arid zone and small shrubs in the alpine areas of Tasmania. The genus is widely planted in other countries, for wood and charcoal and for erosion control. In South America, the Tasmania Blue Gum E. globulus is a common naturalised tree.

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

New species of Banksia described for the Region Banksia vincentia () has been described as a very rare and localised species in the B. spinulosa complex. The description is by Stimpson et al. (2014), Phytotaxa 163(5): 269-286. The species brings to 11 the number of known Banksia species occurring in the region (see Budawangia No. 41, August 2015). The new species only occurs in a very limited site west of Jervis Bay, where only a handful of plants are known. The species can be differentiated from B. spinulosa sens.strict. in the field by the almost prostrate habit and the smaller leaves than typical B. spinulosa, a common species in the Jervis Bay area.

Photograph of the type specimen of Banksia vincentia (NSW National Herbarium, Sydney). Exact location blocked out due to rarity of the species.

The species was gazetted as critically endangered under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW) in October 2015. If you find a different-looking in the Jervis Bay area, further investigation may be worthwhile.

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Privet ‘Rainforest’ The ‘rainforest remnants’ around Jamberoo Valley may not be what they seem. Every December, the canopy of some of these stands turns yellow, as their dominant tree flowers prolifically. Unfortunately, the trees involved are the woody weed from China and Japan, Large-leaved Privet Ligustrum lucidum (Oleaceae). The dark green, thickish, shiny leaves look a bit like a local rainforest tree, but this is definitely not the case. Ligustrum is an old name for privet associated with the northern Italian province of Liguria; lucidum from Latin ‘shine’, probably referring to the rather shiny leaves. Photograph: The exotic Large-leaved Privet Ligustrum lucidum, seen here in full flower, dominates the patch of trees at Spring Creek, west of Kiama.

Wetland Plant No. 14 - Crinum pedunculatum Swamp Lily Crinum pedunculatum (Amaryllidaceae) is a large and very obvious herbaceous species growing on the edges of coastal lakes and estuaries and sometimes at the back of beaches. Readily identified by its large leaves to over one metre long and in spring/summer the large white flowers, this species grows as far south as the Murramarang area, although it is rare south of about Jervis Bay. This is generally a tropical species, occurring across northern Australia and further afield. The related species Darling Lily Crinum flaccidum occurs in the west of the state.

Plant of Crinum pedunculatum. The large white flowers of Crinum pedunculatum.

Mystery Weed

This weed is perhaps not truly naturalised, yet. Climate change may change this in the future.

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Plant of the month – ligustrina Tall Rice-flower Pimelea ligustrina () is one of several species in the genus occurring in the region. This largish shrub grows in moist tall forest and on the edges of rainforest, particularly in clearings. These forests mainly occur along the escarpments of the region where rainfall is relatively high. As with other Pimelea species, including some attractive species from WA that can be obtained from nurseries, this species also has potential as an attractive garden plant. The genus Pimelea comes from Australia and New Zealand, which together have about 90 species. Pimelea from the Greek for fat, referring apparently to the fleshy seeds; ligustrina refers to the similarity of the leaves of this species to plants in the privet genus Ligustrum (see above fro original root of the word).

Flower and leaves of Pimelea ligustrina. Shrub of Pimelea ligustrina.

Elkhorn or Staghorn, which is it? These names are commonly confused for the two species of Platycerium in NSW. As the photographs below show, they are readily differentiated. Elkhorn Platycerium bifurcatum is smaller and has finer fertile fronds (‘antlers’) than does Staghorn Platycerium surperbum. P. bifurcatum occurs as far south as Mimosa Rocks National Park. In our region, it is relatively common in dryer types of rainforest and sometimes along the coast on Casuarina glauca; it is generally attached to rough-barked tree species or to rocks. P. surperbum occurs as far south as the Manning River, so we do not see it growing naturally this far south.

Elkhorn, Platycerium bifurcatum, west of Nowra, South Staghorn Platycerium superbum, Iluka Nature Coast, growing on Backhousia myrtifolia. The narrow Reserve, North Coast. The brown sporangia (spore fronds and dry papery sterile fronds are characteristics. producing area) are obvious in the photograph.

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