Budawangia* an E-Newsletter for All Those Interested in the Native Plants of the Nsw South Coast
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BUDAWANGIA* AN E-NEWSLETTER FOR ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN THE NATIVE PLANTS OF THE NSW SOUTH COAST Contact: Dr Kevin Mills – [email protected] No. 22- January 2014 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 Already one month into the New Year and here is the first edition of Budawangia for 2014. I hope you have all enjoyed the holidays and saw some interesting plants over the break. Many rainforest plants are flowering and fruiting well this year. A few people have reported Rosewood Synoum glandulosum to have produced much fruit this season, while the Coachwoods mentioned in the last newsletter are reaching their most colourful along the escarpment. I have found that the easily accessible rainforest plantings at Kiama Council’s reserves at Spring Creek and Jerrara Dam are good places to see and photograph the flowering and fruiting of the local rainforest plants. Could someone please arrange for a good dump of rain during February! This edition contains pieces on the local Lilly Pilly species, some follow-up on the previous mystery weed Coprosma repens and the plant of the month is the tree Red Cedar Toona ciliata. This is an important tree in terms of the early history of the region. Cedar-getters opened up the district by making tracks into the dense forest to cut the cedar and transport it to the coast for shipping to Sydney. A new mystery weed makes its appearance and several plant taxonomic changes are noted. "Sweet flowers are slow and weeds make haste." - William Shakespeare, Richard III; Act 2, Scene 4. "Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" - said by Eeyore in 'Winnie the Pooh', by A. A. Milne. "I would rather do a good hours work weeding than write two pages of my best; nothing is so interesting as weeding. I went crazy over the outdoor work, and at last had to confine myself to the house, or literature must have gone by the board." - Robert Louis Stevenson, 1890. 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 for copy is one week before the end of the calendar month. Kevin Mills, Jamberoo, NSW. Tel. 02 4236 0620. All photographs ©Kevin Mills 2014, unless otherwise stated. * Budawangia is a monotypic, endemic genus restricted to the Budawang Range on the western edge of the South Coast region. The genus was named by Telford in 1992; the species Budawangia gnidioides (Ericaceae) was previously Rupicola gnidioides. Page | 1 Which Lilly Pilly The common name Lilly Pilly is applied to several related species in the Myrtaceae family. These species can appear very similar and require some close inspection to correctly identify the species involved, especially if only leaves are available. The following four species occur in the region. Syzygium australe (Syzygium paniculatum misapplied) Brush Cherry Brush Cherry can grow to a moderately large rainforest tree and is relatively common throughout the moister rainforests of the northern part of the region. South of the Shoalhaven River the species is less common and reaches its southern limit of distribution at about Batemans Bay. Syzygium oleosum (syn. Syzygium coolminianum) Blue Lilly Pilly This is a rare small rainforest tree in this region; it occurs in Royal National Park and is scattered along the escapement behind Wollongong. The species can be identified by its rather longer and drawn out leaves when compared to the other species discussed here. This tree reaches its known southern limit of distribution in the Mount Kembla area. Syzygium paniculatum Magenta Lilly Pilly This tree is listed as threatened and has a limited distribution, ranging from about Lake Conjola north to Bulahdelah on the central coast. It can be seen in littoral rainforest around Jervis Bay, where some moderately large trees can be found. The species is commonly planted in gardens and has become naturalised in peri-urban areas, such as Wollongong, Nowra and Ulladulla. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to differentiate the natural occurrences and those plants that have naturalised. Left. Leaves and flowers of Syzygium paniculatum. The fruit are quite large, fleshy, reddish to purplish and edible. Syzygium smithii (syn. Acmena smithii) Lilly Pilly This is one of the most common rainforest trees in the region, growing from sea level to the highest altitudes on the highlands. In well developed rainforest, it can grow to a large tree with a thick trunk, while on exposed coastal locations, it may be a low-growing shrubby plant. This tree reaches its known southern limit of distribution on Wilsons Promontory east of Melbourne. Page | 2 Right. The leaves and fruit of Syzygium smithii. This species produces fruit ranging in colour from white, through reddish to purplish. Fruits are quite hard and not terribly edible. The Mirror Plant from New Zealand Mirror Plant Coprosma reopens was the Mystery Plant last month (No. 21). During January, the fruit ripened and by the end of the month some plants were laden down with their fleshy orange fruits. This species is a common coastal forest plant in its native New Zealand, where it is known by its Maori name Taupata. In NSW, it is seldom seen far from coastal cliffs. My impression is that it is increasing along our coast in recent years, no doubt spread by birds (and maybe foxes) eating the fruit and transporting the seeds far and wide. Above: The fleshy fruit of Coprosma repens. Right: Heavily fruiting shrub of Coprosma repens. Photographs taken at Barrera, NSW, January 2014. Page | 3 Plant of the Month – Toona ciliata This month’s plant is the Red Cedar Toona ciliata (syn. Toona australis) (Meliaceae). This well known rainforest tree played an important part in the exploration and subsequent settlement of the South Coast. The species was and still is a common component of the coastal lowland rainforest north of about Ulladulla. The very large old trees that existed in 1788 are now gone, however, although a few moderate- sized trees can still be found, such as at Minnamurra Rainforest. Left. The pinnate leaves and inflorescences of Toona ciliata. Below left: Close up of the flowers of T. ciliata. Below: Typical buttressed trunk of T. ciliata. Most of the Red Cedar timber taken from the region in the early days was shipped to Sydney for use in all sorts of things as it was a light and easily worked timber. There are stories of cutting trees along the Shoalhaven River and leaving them in the river for flushing out at the next big flood, to be picked up at Nowra. Flying-foxes were used on the cliffs of Kangaroo Valley to take logs out via the highlands. Finding the trees was not a problem; in winter it is deciduous, in spring the new growth is pinkish and in autumn the leaves turn yellow. So the large trees could readily be spotted from the edge of the escarpment or from the coastal plain. Page | 4 Growing Red Cedar in plantations proved unsuccessful, because of the Cedar Tip Moth Hypsipyla robusta. The larvae of this insect burrows into the tip of the newly growing stem, causing it to branch, so the tree does not form the strong, straight trunk needed for logging. In plantations, the moth builds up large populations and is more likely to damage the trees, while in natural forest scattered Red Cedar trees are not under so much insect attack. Mystery Weed This exotic species is relatively common in moist sites, particularly near rivers and creeks. It is not a plant to be eaten, even though it is in the same family as carrot, fennel and celery. The answer, as always, will be in the next edition. Name change for Commersonia fraseri The species Commersonia fraseri (Malvaceae), known as Brush Kurrajong, has had a name change. The new name is Androcalva fraseri (J.Gay) C.F.Wilkins & Whitlock. The change is the result of the following paper: Wilkins, C.F. & Whitlock, B.A., (2011) A new Australian genus, Androcalva, separated from Commersonia (Malvaceae s.l. or Byttneriaceae). Australian Systematic Botany 24(5): 303-306. Note that the genus Commersonia was transferred from the family Sterculiaceae to Malvaceae some time ago. Source: Australian Plant Census, January 2014. In a related change, the genus Rulingia is now Commersonia; for example, Rulingia hermanniifolia is now Commersonia hermanniifolia. Don’t you just love taxonomists! More taxonomic changes A few other taxonomic changes were also noted while checking current plant names recently. The vine Aphanopetalum resinosum, known as Resin Vine and previously placed in the Family Cunoniaceae with Ceratopetalum, etc., is now in the family Aphanopetalaceae. I was in error in the last newsletter (no. 21) by continuing to place this species in Cunoniaceae. Native Peach is now named Trema tomentosa var. aspera, rather than Trema aspera var. viridis. The creeper Scrambling Lily Geitonoplesium cymosum has been assigned to the family Hemerocallidaceae. The rainforest vine Ripogonum album has been placed in the family Ripogonaceae, rather than Smilacaceae. Page | 5 .