President: Russell Dempster 0459440665

Vice President: Zig Madycki Top End Native Society Secretary: Jan Hermann July 2019 Newsletter Treasurer: vacant General Meeting Times Publicity: vacant The next TENPS meeting is the AGM which will be held on Thursday July 18th 2019 commencing at 7:30 pm. General meetings are held on Publications: the third Thursday of each month at Marrara Christian College, on the Sarah Hirst/Sylvia Hurse corner of Amy Johnson Avenue and McMillans Road. The meeting is Public Officer: followed by a chance to chat with other members and access the TENPS Sean Bellairs reference Library over a cuppa. Bring your along to swap, sell or have identified. The guest speaker presentation commences around Librarian: 8pm. All are welcome. Field trips are usually on the weekend following Ian Morris the meeting. Details of upcoming events are provided in the newsletter, General Committee Members: or check the TENPS website. What’s in flower? Sylvia Hurse

Webmaster: Sarah Hirst

PO Box 135 Palmerston NT 0831

Or email us: [email protected]

Calytrix exstipulata photo by Zig Madycki

Natives mean more!

www.topendnativeplants.org.au

TENPS Guest Speaker for July TENPS Committee Meeting Zig Madycki is putting together a talk about pollinators on the eucalypt Corymbia polysciada, native generally and the way Committee meetings are held every second and diversity has month and members are most welcome to attend. The next committee meeting will be on 'exploded' due to their interdependence and Wednesday 10th July 2019. interaction.

TENPS PLANT SALE at ABBY’S Place

10th and 11th August

TENPS Field Trip for July NT Herbarium Tour Join us on Saturday July 20 for your opportunity to see inside the NT Herbarium (or to find out what the herbarium is...!) and see some of the more significant and interesting collections. Sarah, who is the Herbarium Collection

NT Field Naturalist Club Events Manager will lead the tour and answer your questions. Meet at the front of the Herbarium on Meetings are held at 7.45pm on the second the Boulevard in Palmerston at 9.00am. The Wednesday of each month except January at Charles main vault is maintained at 16 degrees - cold for Darwin University, in Blue Building 2 (see map below) us locals - so bring a jacket!

Field Trips are a great way to explore the best of Darwin area's nature spots in the company of like- minded people. These are usually held on the Sunday following the monthly meeting and often related to the topic of this meeting. Additional outings are held from time to time, and everyone is welcome.

2

Report on TENPS June Field Trip Gunn Point Stylidium Text Zig Madycki, photos Marj King & Zig Madycki

Sunday 23 June saw a group of seven TENPS members in typical dry season weather meet at the Whitewood Rd shops, Howard Springs for the June excursion to the Gunn Point peninsula in search of the rare and endangered species Stylidium ensatum. High clearance 4WD was recommended for access so with car pooling only 3 cars were used.

S. ensatum with triggered column in female (stigma) phase.

Stylidium are unusual plants which have the anthers and stigma of the flowers fused into a single column or ‘trigger’ which is why they are called ‘Trigger Plants’. In mature flowers this column is sensitive to touch and in searching for nectar an insect triggers the movement of the column which delivers pollen onto a specific part of the insect. The trigger also removes pollen from insects that have visited multiple

flowers. Small sticky hair-like structures on the plants (trichomes) trap small insects. Some suggest this is defensive to protect the plant, but trichomes in one Kimberley WA species have been found to produce digestive enzymes leading to suggestions that Stylidium plants may in fact be carnivorous.

"Pretend we don't know him, he's not with us!"

Most of the distance travelled was on the new sealed Gunn Point Road. The site visited was only about 3 kms off the main road but had some sandy sections and some damp badly S. ensatum with active anther in set position. eroded areas. A fire had gone through the area possibly only a few days before the visit but fortunately hadn't burned into the damp habitat favoured by Stylidium.

3

S. ensatum in stigma phase showing traces of withered anthers. S. semipartitum showing active stigma (left) and active anther Five species were found, the rare S. ensatum (right). ironically being the most common in this area. Other species were S. schizanthum, S. tenerrimum, Much time was spent by the group 'molesting' S. cordifolium and S. semipartitum. flowers to see the trigger in action. This action was quite rapid and in some species the column reset itself fairly quickly.

S. cordifolium in female (stigma) phase Dave Liddle showed the group the operation of the trigger mechanism and explained how the anthers developed first on the column and deposited pollen on visiting insects before the stigma became receptive. After some time the S. tenerrimum, upper flower in male (anther) anthers would shrivel and fall off at which stage phase, lower damaged flower in female (stigma) the stigma would become receptive. This phase. prevents self pollination. Additional plants also observed were: Utricularia uliginosa, U. leptoplectra, U. chrysantha; Drosera burmanni, another Drosera sp. possibly aff. petiolaris 'NT Form'; plus Lindernia sp., Burmannia juncea, Lobelia douglasiana, Buchnera gracilis, Eriocaulon setaceum, Melastoma malabathricum, Osbeckia australiana, Mitrasacme subvolubilis, Xyris species, and others.

The over storey was mainly Lophostemon lactifluus, Melaleuca viridiflora, spiralis and Carallia brachiata with a lone Alstonia actinophylla (Milkwood).

S. schizanthum in female (stigma) phase.

4

Suggestion for a one-off change of September 2019 meeting to Thursday 5th instead of the normal 19th.

If there is enough interest we have the opportunity for a speaker from the UK to talk about Australian native Citrus species, including the NT's endemic Citrus gracilis.

Michael Saalfeld describes himself as an amateur botanist in the UK with a particular interest in the native Australian citrus species. For many years he has had a collection of Utricularia uliginosa these plants in his heated greenhouse, and

has also maintained a website describing them. In 2016, he spent several weeks in Australia attempting to photograph all the six species in their native habitat.

In August/September 2019 he will be returning to Australia to re-visit Citrus sites including Citrus gracilis. Before returning to the UK he has offered to give a talk on Australian Citrus but Thursday 5th September is the only date he has available before flying out.

He has plenty of photos from past trips to

Utricularia chrysantha Australia, and the proposed talk is similar to one he gave to the fruit group of the Royal Horticultural Society in London which was well received.

Lobelia douglasiana Citrus gracilis Photo NT Flora

Many thanks to Dave Liddle for educating us in the ways of Stylidium.

5

Top End natives grow Darwin’s urban forest Kerri Meehan found this attractive display while walking in the bush around Gunbalunya. She sent the photos to TENPS for identification.

Cavenagh St., Darwin CBD next to the Shade Structure

Heat mitigation work on Cavenagh St includes the

planting of 29 new Top End native :

Peltophorum pterocarpum 12

Syzygium armstrongii 14

Allosyncarpia ternata 3

One will be installed later as part of the

Manunda House project

Ongoing experimental plantings of Top End natives in the CBD using planter boxes for medium scale trees Sarah Hirst was able to tell Kerri : ‘This one is a bladderwort - Utricularia fulva. These plants are City of Darwin Council has organized eight carnivorous with tiny bladders on the 'roots' that Community Tree Planting Days across Darwin to capture microscopic insects which they digest as a plant 5,000 trees by the end of 2019. The aim is to source of nutrients. This one is common around replace trees destroyed by Cyclone Marcus with streams in sandstone country.’ Australian natives that are cyclone resilient. http://eflora.nt.gov.au/factsheet?id=2936 One of these days was at East Point where 2,000 Australian Native trees endemic to East Point were planted. Courtesy of Amanda Swain, Horticulturalist CBD Precinct

6

Rehabilitation works at Rapid Creek Vitex rotundifolia Vitex trifolia Friends of Rapid Creek have been rehabilitating an area known as ‘The Spit’ near the mouth of Rapid Creek. Last wet season they planted 100 Top End natives sourced from Greening Australia and Territory Native Plants.

Central Australian and Katherine flora brochures

For sale at TENPS

$10

East Point Community Tree Planting 12th May 2019

Friends of Rapid Creek planting list 2018/2019

Adenanthra pavonia Albizia lebbeck

Alphitonia excelsa Alstonia actinophylla

Bombax ceiba Canarium australianum Cordia subcordata Croton habrophyllus

Denhamia obscura Diospyros calycantha

Dodonea platyptera Ficus virens

Ganophyllum falcatum Helicteres isora

Maranthes corymbosa Mimusops elengi Myristica insipida Pittosporum moluccenum

Peltophorum pterocarpum Polyalthia australis serratifolia quadrifida Strychnos lucida Terminalia microcarpa Breynia cernua Canavalia rosea Grevillea pteridifolia Diospyros compacta Ipomea pes-caprae Hibiscus tiliaceus Melaleuca leucadendra Maranthes corymbosa Millettia pinnata Melaleuca viridiflora Scaevola taccada Premna acuminata

Syzygium suborbiculare Sterculia quadrifida

7

SUBSCRIPTION FORM – ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP (DUE 1 JULY) Please accept my subscription/renewal for membership of the Top End Native Plant Society ☐. New membership ☐. Renewal Name/s...... Email address ...... …………………. Please Note: The electronic edition of the newsletter will be uploaded to the member’s page of the website each month and members will be notified by email (Acrobat Reader is required). If you DO NOT have email access and would like to receive the newsletter (black & white available only) by post please tick the box. ☐ Postal Address ...... Post Code...... Payment Due $...... ($20.00 per member/family, $15.00 unwaged) TO PAY ONLINE: Bank: People’s Choice Credit Union BSB: 805050 Account Name: Top End Native Plant Society Account Number: 61225276 Please include your name in the transfer reference. Or MAIL TO: TENPS Secretary, PO Box 135, Palmerston NT 0831 Signature ...... Date ……/…… /…...

TO:

Sender:

PO Box 135 Palmerston NT 0831

8