Girraween in Winter

Banksia spinulosa var. neoanglica (New England Banksia) in full bloom beneath the granite boulders of Girraween

Here’s a few more pictures from Girraween Nation park. Being mid winter now, the changes from the summer months are subtle. Frost morning and the dry days have left the grass and bracken in the openings golden and russet toned but little else has changed greatly. Acacias, Banksias and Legumes take advantage of the cooler months to flower and will soon be followed by the main spring flowering as the frosty morning disappear. Change here is marked more by wet and dry, and the passing of bush fires. Following the wet summer and and lush growth which is now going crisp in the dry winter weather poses a greater risk for fires than usual of which several large ones are being fought right now around Queensland.

Banksia spinulosa var. neoanglica (New England Banksia).

The woody seed capsules of the New England Banksia waiting for the heat of a bush fire to open. Curious boulders among the Gum trees.

Looking out from the Castle Rocks that rise high above the tree-line, yellow acacias sp. flowering in the foreground. 

Leucopogon melaleucoides (Snow Bush) and Acacia venulosa (Veiny Wattle, Woolly Wattle)

Pultenaea hartmanii (Stanthorpe Pea) and tiny white fungi sprouting from a dead twig.

Patterns in the bark. The second reminds me of Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’.

The Scream.

Grazing roos.

Trapped Between the High Rises and the Waves.

Wild passion flower.

 It’s been a while since I last blogged, so here comes a few in quick succession to catch up on my travels so far. These are some pictures from Noosa National Park, a few hours drive north of Brisbane, where I went for a hike early one morning a few weeks ago when visiting ‘The Lost Garden of Belli Park’. The park sits in a narrow strip of land with the Pacific Ocean to the east and holiday developments to the west. It protects a valuable coastal habitat that is vastly diminished due to beach front development. Apparently it is a haven for fruit pigeons, eastern yellow robins, rufous fantails, satin bower-birds and crimson rosellas as goannas, possums and koalas. As for bird spotting I’m not shore that I saw any of the above although they may well have been sing away in the canopy, as for reptiles and marsupials, they must have been asleep. Plants on the other hand aren’t so difficult. The vegetation in the park is variable and runs in narrow bands parallel to the coast. To the west of the coastal highway is the section or the reserve known as Emu Mountain rising about 90m above the coast. Here the soil is thin and rocky and the vegetation is known as walnut heathland, with plants like small leaved Banksia species, trunkless Xanthoreas (grass trees) and Mt. Emu She Oaks (Allocasuarina emuina) among others. The Mt. Emu She Oak in particular has had its distribution reduced. They now only exist along a 35km range of coast with the major population on Emu Mountain. To the east of the highway is the main, flat coastal section of the reserve. Here rain forest, open Eucalyptus forest and Pandanas palms flank the highway. The forest then open up to a strip of marsh/swamp,dominated by sedges and crossed by a meandering board walk, which is separated from the Pacific Ocean by large dunes. On the inland side of the dunes where there is less standing water grow the curious and variable Swamp Banksia species with their large leaves and flowers varying in colour from rust brown, orange, cream through to green. Beyond the dunes roared the breakers rolling in from the east. I was down on the beach before 6am and didn’t expect there to be many people about, but in the warm coastal air eager surfers were out making the most of the waves coming in on the early high tide.

Here are some pics from the coastal section of Noosa National Park.

Board walk emerging from the white paper bark woodlands crossing the swamp to get down the beacch.

Yellow Iris like flower in amongst the reeds and sedges of the swampy section.

One of the variable swamp Banksias alongside the board walk.

 Swamp Banksias species one of which is being eaten by a hungry beetle.

Early morning surfers catching the high tide at 6am.

These are some of the tough creeping plants that hold the dunes together against the wind.

Muscle shells on an old corroded gas can now high and dry in the dunes.

And here are some more pics this time from the western Emu Mountain section of Noosa National Park.

Banksia and Calistemon species.

Xanthorea seedhead and dodder scrambling through the endangered Mt. Emu She Oak (Allocasuarina emuina).

Banksia seed capsule and another open woody seed capsule. Sorry, don’t know what this chap is.

The Botanical Gardens of the Western Woodlands

There was no apple picking to be done the other day due to the rain so I took a 400km round road trip (not far in Aussie terms) to the inland boarder town of Goondiwindi (pronounced gunned-a-windy) to take a look at the Botanic Garden of the Western Woodlands. On first appearance they were sparse, dry and not particularly colourful. Unlike the majority of Australia’s botanic gardens located on the coastal fringes and displaying a wide variety of species and cultivated plants from around the world, Goondiwindi Botanic Garden features only native plants from the local regions of southern outback Queensland and northern outback New South Wales. The plantings in the garden represent 27 defined botanical habitats from ranging from the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range across the dry planes to deserts of the interior. All of the plants from these regions have adapted to endure prolonged periods of drought and on rare occasions may be submerged of weeks or months at a time when deluges from the tropics slowly make their way down the dry inland creek systems flooding their way slowly south to Lake Eyre and some years all the way to the Southern Ocean, as has happened this year. The town of Goondiwindi received very little rain from the skies though the Macintyre river rose to 10.63 meters above normal levels coming within a few inches of the top of the towns levies.

Goondiwindi Botanic Garden of the Western Woodlands

The grass in the garden was golden, crisp and fissured with cracks as the soil dries and contracts. The plantings are more like that of an arboretum, as the spacing of the plants is critical for the survival of the collection. This is how they would occur in habitat as there wouldn’t be enough moisture in the ground in dry times to maintain a continuous canopy. The garden was conceived in 1986 and it was envisaged right from the very start that it would be a showcase for native floras. The first plants went in the ground in 1988 and several thousand trees and shrubs have been planted since that time. A large percentage of plants have been lost to drought and replaced. Drought cycles may be ten years or more and young plants don’t make it through these times. Young plants are mulched and are helped with trickle irrigation but the loss of some plants, it seems, is the reality of gardening in this region. The original time scale for the evolution of the garden was planned in decades as apposed to years as many under story shrubs and delicate ephemeral plants will only be able to survive once a mature over story has been established.

The drought in Goondiwindi persists in any regions beyond the towns flood levies.

The main canopy colour is silver to glaucus green although some trees like the Queensland Lacebark Brachychiton discolor with its swollen bottle shaped trunk to act as a reservoir looked distinctly glossy, lush and green among it’s counterparts. Being high summer now there were no trees or shrubs putting on grand floral displays as blousy water hungry petals would get burned to a crisp in no time. On closer inspection there were plenty of species in flower, filling a niche, the majority of which are comprised of  only the bare essentials.

Callostemma purpureum (Garland Lilly) and (Bauhinia) Latin name unknown

Eremorphila neglecta ‘Olive’ and Callistemon ‘Injume Pink’

Acacia salicina (Doolan) and Acacia species

Eremorphila polyclada and Eucalyptus species

The main foliage type is schlerophyll (tough leaved) like those of Eucalyptus species and often their colour is glaucus or silver. Eremorphila glabra ‘Compacta’ has small hairy leaves held close to the stems. Others like Cassia artemesioides (Silver Cassia) have reduced their leaves to needles and Hakea purpurea has done away with leaves all together photosynthesising through the green stems.

Cassia artemesioides (Silver Cassia) and Eremorphila glabra ‘Compacta’

Hakea purpurea and silver foliage, plant unknown

Many of the more showy early flowering trees are now shedding their seeds. The flowering of Brachychiton species are supposed to be spectacular and it is often used as an ornamental in parks and gardens. I’ve yet to see one in full bloom.

Brachychiton discolor (Queensland Lacebark) and Senna circinnata (Spring Pod Cassia)

Pittosporum phylliraeoides (Native Apricot) and black seeds, unknown plant

Another adaptation to cope with the harsh environment is to develop symbiotic relationships like the ants living inside the galls on the Acacia pendula which help defend the tree against browsing and aid pollination. Unfortunately not all the ants live in the trees and I seem to have developed the knack stopping to take photos right on top of their nests.

Acacia pendula (Myall) with ant gall and Brachychiton discolor (Queensland Lacebark) leaf and Shield Bug

Brachychiton rupestris (Bottle Tree) leaves made into spider nests and a row of eggs on a leaf

Here is a bit about Lake Eyre.

http://www.saltdoco.com/

There is still a few months of apple picking to be done, then my plan was to travel inland to the Simpson Desert for a week or so then double back and head north to the tropics of northern Queensland. These plans may change and I may now turn south and follow the inland creeks down to Lake Eyre to see the transformation of the floods, the greening of the desert and the accompanying boom in wildlife. Not having a four wheel drive I’m not yet shore how feasible this plan would be, but there is still plenty of time to research and make a decision.

Parasites and Carnivores

Regarding parasites, many of the gum trees around the farm where I currently live have large woody mistletoe plants hanging from their branches (below left) which are just coming into flower. Australia has 10 genera and 65 species of mistletoe and I think this one (above) is Amyema pendulum. There are several large dams on the farm (below right) with beaches kept clear buy the fluctuating water levels, perfect for a swim although the water is still a bit murky following the floods and one day we found a dead sheep floating in the water. Not to worry he was fresh.

As for carnivores, growing in the open patches of sand that are kept damp by seeping ground water there are tiny Pimpernel sun-dew Drosera glanduligera (bellow) plants only a few inches across. If you stand still for only a moment you end up covered in biting ants as I found taking these photos. The ants seem to be their main food, the leaf curling up around them as they struggles to get free of the sticky hairs.

Whilst on the subject of carnivores I thought it would be fitting to include a gallery of some of our eight legged house mates. The most impressive of which was the huntsman spider top that was a good five inches across and was gingerly extricated from the house with a squeeze mop. As well as looking around at the ground for snakes you have to look up as well when walking through the bush to avoid getting an orb spider (second down) across you face. (third and fourth down) A hairy chap we found living on the BBQ, didn’t seem too happy to be put in a glass. The hermit crab of the spider world, many of the webs in the bush have a curled up gum leaf hanging in the middle of them with a tiny spider tucked inside.

Katoomba in The Blue Mountains

Katoomba, a small town in the Blue Mountains renowned for its hiking, rock-climbing and caving is a short train ride, 120 west of Sydney. I had expected, given the name ‘Blue Mountains’ to be greeted by spectacular alpine scenery on arrival. I was some what disappointed when there wasn’t so much as a rolling hill on the horizon. I turns out that Katoomba is on top of the mountain, and geologically speaking the region isn’t mountainous but a high plato and network of steep canyons and valleys. A short walk from the hostel in the centre of town reveals the spectacular scenery, which doesn’t tower above you but drops away vertically beneath your feet.

The Three Sisters sandstone rock formations and the Jamison valley.

The vast canyons have eroded more than 500m down through layers of sandstone, shale and clay. The cliff edges drop vertically more than 100m down to the forests blanketing the valley floor. Looking down there are distinct changes in vegetation from rain forest at the bottom of the valleys, supported by plentiful ground water rather that abundant rain fall, which is dark green and has a notable absence of Eucaliptus, of which there are over 100specied in the Blue Mountains alone. Rising up the slopes are the wet sclerophyll forests dominated by tall open stands of Eucalyptus with open canopies more that 60m in height, with an under story of soft leaved trees, climbers and grasses. Following layers of clay within the sandstone cliffs are hanging swamps where the ground water peculates out above the clay forming bands of  mosses and ferns that eventually drop from the cliff faces under their own weight. Finally the top of the plato consists of dry sclerophyll forests of open shorter, stands of Eucalyptus with a shrubby under story of flowering shrubs with small, tough spiny leaves.

One of the smaller tree species forming the under story of the forest in the botom of the canyon. I’ll let you know what it is when I find out.

The blue colouration of the mountains is down to the glaucus colour of the Eucalyptus leaves through the haze. Dropping down into the canyons down steep flights of steps carved into the rocks the atmosphere becomes noticeably cooler as you enter the humidity of the forest. Two trees dominate this part of the reserve, the Blue Mountain Gum Eucalyptus deanei with id towering smooth white bark and the Turpentine tree Syncarpia glomulifera with depictured bark, many of the trees burnt out completely in the core of the trunk by past fire storms and still supporting lush canopies. Tall tree ferns Cyathea australis lined the paths along with shorter squatter Dicksonia antarctica.

Blue Mountain Gum Eucalyptus deanei

Turpentine tree Suncarpia glomulifera

It was my first impulse to head straight down into the rainforests, however it turned out to be the high open forests on the tops of the canyons that support the most diverse range of flowers.  Here the soil is much drier and nutrient poor as they are leached to the valley floor. The scrub consists of many different varieties of  Acacia, Boronia, Grevellia, Hakea and pea plants (family FABACEAE) according to my book on wild flowers. There were many Banksias with remnants of past flowers and tough woody seed capsules that guard against fire, that unfortunately had finished flowering. There were other members of PROTEACEAE in flower along with many other wild flowers.

Isopogon anemonifolius PROTEACEAE

Banksia Eric folia PROTEACEAE

Telopia speciosa PROTEACEA

Lambertia Formosa PROTEACEAE

As is always the way I took pictures until the battery in my camera could carry on no more. Literally minuets after I rounded a corner and discovered not one but two different orchids in full bloom. My camera mustered up enough strength to take a quick snap or each. Fortunately they were not too far out so I hiked back up to the early the next morning, when the light was much more amenable of photography to take some more. The pale pink, butterfly shaped orchid has a mechanical anther which when the flower is genteelly touched, flicks suddenly like the arm of a catapult delivering a sticky package of pollen onto the back of an unsuspecting insect.

Haven’t been able to name these yet either, sorry!

Ingenious Bladderwort Trap

“What a wonderful and long-continued series of variations must have led up to the perfect ‘trap’ in Utricularia, while at any stage of the process the same end might have been gained by a little development of roots and leaves, as in 9999 plants out of 10.000!” Alfred Russel Wallace, from a letter to Charles Darwin dated  21st of July 1875.

Poly Tunnel Build

The many tender exotic plants which fill the borders of the Exotic Garden spend the fickle winters in a large poly-tunnel.  This video, filmed by Chris Ridley, captures its construction back in February 2012. With a bit of ingenuity the new tunnel was constructed over the old, smaller one then fit to burst at the the seams.