lSSN 0811-5311 DATE - SEPTEMBER 19 87 "REGISTERD BY AUSTRALIA POST -, FTlBL IC AT ION LEADER : Peter Hind, 41 Miller stredt, Mt. Druitt 2770 SECRETARY : Moreen Woollett, 3 Curriwang Place, Como West 2226 HON. TREASURER: Margaret Olde, 138 Fmler ~oad,Illaong 2234 SPORE BANK: Jenny Thompson, 2a Albion blace, Engadine 2233 Dear Wers, I First the good ws. I ?hanks to the myme&- who pdded articles, umrmts and slides, the book uhichwe are produehg thraqh the Pblisw Secticm of S.G.A.P. (NSFi) wted is nearing c~np3etion. mjblicatio~lshkmger, Bill Payne has proof copies and is currm'tly lt-dhg firral co-m. !€his uill be *e initial. volume in ghat is expeckd to be a -1ete reference to &~~txalirrnferns and is titled "The Australian Fern Series 1". It is only a smll volm~hi&hcrpefully can be retailed at an afford& le price -b the majority of fern grcw ers. Our prl3 Emtion differs -Em maq rrgard&gr' b mks b-use it is not full of irrelevant padding, me -is has been on pm3uci.q a practical guide to tihe cultivation of particular Aus&dlian native ferns, There is me article of a technical nature based rm recent research, but al-h scientific this tm has been x ritten in simple tmm that would be appreciated by most fern grm ers, A feature of the beis the 1- nuher of striking full =lour Uus.hratims. In our next Wsletterge hope to say more &opt details of phlicatim EOODIA SP . NO. 1 - CANIF On the last page of this Newsletter there is d photo copy of another unsual and apparently attractive fern contributed by Queensland member Rod Pattison. This is one of three unusual Doodias discoverdd by ~odnear Cania (w. ~ld.1 It is hoped to feature the other two Coodias in future Newsletters. I No studies have been undertaken in regard to this species ad accordingly the plant has not been nominated a name at this stage. The qore pattern is similar to Doodia caudata and it may prove to be a form of that species, albeit a Large fern. Spore has been taken and it is hoped that this will prove successful as only one plant is known to exist at present. Also an additional specimen is required for submission to the National Herbarium in Sydney for examination. It is likely to be some time before any plants will become generally available. ******* BURRENDONG ARBORETUM Our member Kyrill Taylor has made available recent corr:espondence he has had with Mr. Bob Carr the NSW Minister for Planning & Environment. Kyrill had written to the Minister and expressed concern at the liklihood of National Parks & Wildlife officers being appointed managers of a "museum" of living Australian native flora that had proven to be a refuge for many endangered species. The following response from Mr. Carr indicates that so far we have failed to convince the Government of Burrendong's importance. "I refer to your recent letter concerning the Eurrendong Arboretum. As you may be aware the Royal Botanic Gardens will. not be accepting responsibility for the administration of the Arboretum. As a consequence the Arboretum will continue as part of the Burrendong State Recreation Area. The Director of National Parks and Wildlife advises me that the Service will now prepare management guidelines for the operation of the Arboretum based upon the report prepared by Ho~rticultural Consultant Mr. J. Wrigley and the comments received on the report from a range of interested persons and organisations. Future funding of the Arboretum will reflect these management guidelines. The Service has provided the funds necessary for the employment of a suitably qualified person as Arboretum Curator. This person will be responsible to the Burrendong State Recreation Area Trust for the management of the Arboretum. Employment of the Curator represents an upgrading of the present Arboretum Foreman's position. Advertisements for the position will be published shortly. The Service is also discussing with the Trust and the Arboretum Association a programme for the computerisation of records. Funding of this programme will be considered in the Servic~e's1987/88 budget." Mr. Carr's reply doesn't augur well for those of us who are keen to support promotion of the fern area. One of the contentions made in John Wrigley's report in 1985 was that the resources available to the Burrendong Arboretum should be devoted to growing plants indigenous to the Central Western part of NSW. This of course is directly in contrast to the evidence that plants f:rom every State in Australia have been successfully grown at Burrendong and -he national significance of work at the Arboretum in saving and cultivating valuable plants that would otherwise be facing extinction. More than ninety different species of Australian ferns have been established at Burrendong in the 1/3rd acre shade area. Thanks largely to the foresight and work of Peter Althofer, Burrendong probably is already the &st place to view the widest range of our native ferns under cultivation. Recently work has been completed on an impressive steel structure which is to support a further one acre of shade area, At the time of writing work was proceeding to cover the new section with brush, landscaping on both sides of the stream that runs through the area was well advanced and a number of ferns have already been planted. Many S.G.A.P. members have assisted the current developn~entadd these included several from the Fern Study Group. At the risk of offending others who have made notable contributions to the current development, a special tribute is paid to Roy and Bea Duncan who have made four trips from Newcastle (just on 500 km away) in recent months and spent several days on the project each visit. There is much more work to be done both in planting adcaring for ferns already established. Volunteer labour is required and our Group plan1 a working bee at the Arboretuz on 7th and 8th Novembex 1987. A large number of ferns are needed for the extensive shaded ground now becoming available. Members willing td donate ferns could contact Peter Althofer at Burrendong (068) 467454 before the end of November or advise Moreen (02) 528 4881. HELD FOR AN OVERSEAS VISITOR Irene Cullen has passed an a letter addressed tothe Fern St* Group care of S.G.A.P. Qld. frm Prof. Dennis K. Walker, Professor of Botany at Hmbldt State University, California. Prof. Walker is planning to visit Australia as part of sabbatical leave in the Western Pacific F4qia-1 tmards the end of this year. He is searching for plants that are significant to this area of instructicm at the Lhiversity and his letter asked for assistanae. Prof. Walker's letter listed 28 genera of ferns and fern allies and then stated: "What I hope to gain from this letter to you is more specific advice on the locations of expendable'plants, and suggestions for their successful cultivation. Perhaps- you- are acquainted with lobal field botanists who can find Anogramma in Western Australia, or Leptopte=is in New South Wales, or Phvlloslossum2 in Tasmania. or Helminthostachvs and Marattia in the far north of Queensland. If so, I would certainly apprecipte your introducing me to those individuals. I am assuming that your organisation is in a position to arrange contact between people with a common interest in the wild Australian ferns, and their propagation" Althoqh we wora about the Professor's reference to "expendable plants", w have replied indicating that m would try to hdp ad if -sW wndd sqgest hrsin districts that he in~rlddvisiting. fndividUal mmkm may be m-tacted by the Professor. A q of the Professor's let- x as £om arded to Ehe National Heharim and the Dimrhas written to the Professor offering assistance. Our former Leader Phyll Brcwn has offered her house at -dell Park for sale. Apart £mhaving argu&ly the best fern garden in Sy- th~Eamte buyer will get a 2+ bedsoan ha, bamqe, dLning, kitchen, sun rm in hd2temdition. me garder, is equip@ dith an autmatic sprinkler systm. Prospecti= bqelrs should cmtact %. Hmccck 705 64U (h) or 771 3065 (81, I TXMANIAN WRWITH THE FERN SOCEI~!OE' VICTORIA (Cmkued fran June 19 87 Nw sletter) .- Cantrib uted by Ray Best Next day we were m ourway to Habark thro@~Gommstca and Linda, msbg the King River. mdl driver -8 itk his dq sense of hm,ramrked that we had all heard. of the p13 jr ith no beer, But hadve seen a pb xith a tcpless bar and a tcpless 1aq-w; thm them it T as beside the highzy with no roof at all. Wvjng thqh Victoria Pass ve began to c- first crcssinq tke Aha River then the Frrmklb and acms the upper aches of &eEement, 3:- the rmd War& bk. Fw3s~e had lunch near Lake St. Clare. Here dere a nmber of walkvlg txsc'm that M almost becare .~.atercmmes; so after a little frustrating salking looking for fems se returned to the mch to proceed m our w a.past WeKing Willim thaqln to Bronte, $here an artificial white nrater ram had been cmw,that could be mtmlled in arwmts of water £la4 #hen. -red. Pdding great sport for canoeists and iiflated b oat enthusiasts, Tkis YJ akr carre frm a high level dmWqh a pwer statim. This is the mthod used in Tasmania togenerate a great deal of hydro electri&.ky without qsetting the ~aterflw in the rivers or any N astage of w ater. Rdo Standaloft provided us -M ith aJ.l t.he details f ran his remark& le encyclopaedic nmory, Thus per is p&d cheqly and w ithout pollutim; it certainly has a lot go* for it.