RAINFOREST PLANTS of AUSTRALIA: Rockhampton to Victoria

Those of you who are interested in knowing more about the plants in our local area might like to get hold of this new computer key. Written by Gwen Harden, Hugh Nicholson, Bill McDonald, Nan Nicholson, Terry Tame and John Williams, it was launched last month, and is available on a USB from http://rainforests.net.au, or http://www.rainforestpublishing.com.au. The cost, if ordered on the internet, is $80.00. My first thought was that the price is rather high, but it contains so very much more than could ever be fitted into a single book, that it is definitely worth it. It covers all the trees, shrub, climbers mistletoes, and treeferns that fit within the authors' rather broad definition of a rainforest plant. This includes plants of wet environments like Goomburra, Ravensbourne or the Bunya Mountains; dry rainforests such as those in Redwood Park or Highfields; and even the "scrub" plants to the west of Toowoomba. (There are no "sclerophyll" plants - gumtrees or wattles - in it).

"Keying out" plants can be quite difficult if you use a traditional key, but the great thing about this one is that you can enter anything you know about the plant. It begins with a list of all its 1139 plants. Type in one fact - that it has pink fruits of a certain size, for example - and all plants that don't fit this description disappear from the list. Type in the geographical area, and suddenly you find yourself with quite a short list that makes it easy to find your plant. Add a few other facts, such as the length of the leaves, and you may have identified your plant already, and can look at its description and photos. Or if there are still a few to choose from, you can look at the photos of each of the plants left in the list, which might give you the bit of extra help you need to find "your" plant. Because it's a computer key, it has included lots more photos of each plant than books can afford to publish - 1200 of them altogether, with ten or a dozen of every plant, so you get a really good idea of what each plant looks like. Another use for the program is simply to look up any plant that you're curious about, in the list of names. Because you're given a full written description of each plant, an indication of where it's likely to grow, and photos of the whole plant as well as close-ups of the trunk, flowers, fruit, leaves, etc, you can start to feel you really know that plant. As a bonus, if you order it from Hugh and Nan Nicholson's "rainforestpublishing" site you get a free copy of Volume 1 of their rainforest book series. This is a really a fantastic resource, which I feel sure many of our members would like to own.

(Written by Trish Gardner)

Outing Report: West Creek, 09 November, 2014

Twenty Field Nats gathered at the rotunda on Creedon Drive at 9.00am, to be joined by a few more late arrivals. Margaret’s purpose for the outing was twofold – for us to contemplate the changes to the creek wrought by 150+ years of European intervention; and to show us what some of West Creeks’s detention basins look like (to help us project what East Creek’s current and controversial developments might morph into, given time). 

Margaret had quotes from Archibald Meston’s evaluations of “The Swamp”, with comments of mullet in these creeks and leptospermums along the banks where the creek lines connected the then different wetlands along the way. Meston, I believe, was only 18 when he first arrived in Drayton, later to work with Aborigines, and eventually to become Queensland’s Protector of Aborigines by the end of the Nineteenth Century. It would seem that, at 18, he was not accurate in his identifications of fish or plants – yet his letters still carry weight as historical records! 

We learned that this section of West Creek, southwards from the rotunda to Stenner Street, was developed in the 1980s to suit Toowoomba City Council’s then priority for an International Gardens theme – specifically here to create a Palm Grove (Egypt) and the canal structures that connect successive detention basins were to be reminiscent of Holland. Nearby, there are separate lines of Queensland Kauris, ficus species, eucalypts, casuar- inas, willows and poplars – giving us a certain sense of identity crisis. 

Northwards from the rotunda we did a short loop walk around the next few basins, here connected by under- ground pipes. These basins are beside and slightly above the present watercourse, which is lined with imported rocks, to slow the flood flow. The ponds had three species of waterlilies, some of which were beginning to clog the ponds. One wonders what happens to this surplus of (regenerative) plant matter when there is a big flush event. For many of us, the feature of the day was the massed display of the “Snow in Summers” (Melaleuca linariifolia) which were just short of their very best, and intermittently lining the major ponds. Most of us turned around at the end of that first loop, where a tree stump had been expertly capped, so making an ideal habitat for a large and active colony of native bees.    

I think that we as Field Nats were most appreciative of the natives on show, and can’t help but wonder what the creek-scape would have looked like if it were exclusively native species. A chance missed for Toowoomba to have showcased Australia’s unique vegetation. This would have been an ideal opportunity for Toowoomba, the second largest city within the Murray-Darling Basin, and in a significant headwater position within this basin, to have set an example of environmental responsibility. 

While not oppressively hot, it was a very warm morning as we ambled around West Creek. Morning-tea at 10.40am was late for us Nats, but proved leisurely, and gradually lingered towards midday, when we all took an early mark and dismissed for the day. Jean and I walked this area last November and were blown away by the “Snow in Summers”, so I settled upon this for our November 2014, outing. While on our W.A. trip, I became anxious that I may not have time to pull together my part preparations for West Creek if we arrived back too late in October. My thanks to Margaret for taking up this theme on short notice and coordinating our day. 

(Report by Ben Gundry)

SPECIES LIST
Trees      (Compiled by John Swarbrick)

 Over many years Council has developed the parklands and wetlands of West Creek between Alderley Street and Stenner Street into extensive parklands and wetlands, and has planted many species of trees. The list of species noted during the November outing is incomplete. It include both native and exotic species. 

Dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelinii), queen palm (Syagrum romazoffianum) , Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis), cotton palm (Washingtonia filifera) and other true palms, pony-tail palm (Nolina longifolia), and several species of cycads. Flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolius), narrow-leaved bottle tree (B. rupestris), crows ash (Flindersia australis), several eucalypt species (Eucalyptus, Corymbia), swamp cypress (Taxodium distichum), Leichhardt bean (Cassia brewsteri), bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis), five-nerved tea tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia), English oak (Quercus robur), Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla), Chinese pistachio (Pistacio chinensis), Queensland kauri (Agathis robusta), belah (Casuarina cristata), two species of poplars (Populus), brush box (Lophostemon confertus), Queensland blue gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), other species of fig (Ficus), golden weeping willow (Salix x sepulcralis), flax-leaved paperbark (Melalueca linariifolia).
 
Birds      (Compiled by Barbara Weller from members' sightings)

Sacred Ibis, Little Black Cormorant, Pied Cormorant, Magpie Lark (nesting), Australian Grebe, Buff-banded Rail, Pacific Black Duck, Wood Duck, White-eyed Duck, Eurasian Coot,  Dusky Moorhen, House Sparrow, Brown Honeyeater, Noisy Miner (nesting), Little Friarbird, Noisy Friarbird, Superb Blue Wren, Common Myna, Crested Pigeon, Masked Lapwing, Fairy Martin, Spotted Turtle Dove, Black-backed Magpie, Willy Wagtail, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike, Satin Bowerbird (female) .


Australian Grebe (left)

White-eyed Duck (right)

(Both photos by Peter Evans)

Launch of book: Toowoomba’s Best Trees

More than 50 people gathered around the 120 year old Kauri Pine Tree next to the Cobb and Co Museum on Thursday morning, 13 November,  to witness the launch of “Toowoomba’s Best Trees” written by our Field Nats member, Dr John Swarbrick. The photographs in the book are by Lucy RC Photography of Toowoomba.

In launching the book, Councillor Sue Englart thanked John Swarbrick for his work on this project, but also for being a long- standing environmental friend of the Toowoomba city. The booklet will be available for sale at the Toowoomba Information Centre.

John Swarbrick also spoke briefly and thanked the many people involved in the project and thanked the Council for agreeing to publish the book. He urged the Council to regard the tree heritage of Toowoomba as a financial asset worth many millions, and, just as other Council assets are looked after by the Council, so should be the trees in Toowoomba.

The act of launching was striking a stake into the ground near the Kauri Pine. Attached to the stake is a metal placard which named the tree and, as an innovation, there is also a barcode on the placard which, if scanned by a smart phone, gives more detailed information about the tree. In order to scan the barcode, one would need to download a free app called ‘QR Code’. Each of the trees discussed in the book has a barcode linked to further information.

John Swarbrick holds placard while Councillor Sue Englart hammers it into ground

October outing to Challawong and Glen Rock

Challawong  at Glen Rock

In past times there was an Aboriginal route from the east onto the Downs that passed the rock overhang called Challawong. This is the only known example of this form of Aboriginal art in South-east Queensland. By abrading and pecking the rock the natives created abstract designs of ovals, straight lines, U shapes and others. The meaning of these is unknown. They are only marred by some graffiti at the western end. This is truly a unique site which needs better protection and I have contacted the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to that effect.

Aboriginal abstract art

Glen Rock is one of my favourite places as I was on its development committee for six years representing the interests of conservation. It takes in much of the catchment of Blackfellows Creek and the top of Black Duck Creek in the southern Lockyer. Originally a cattle property, it was purchased by the Queensland Government and developed under the auspices of Gatton Shire Council. It is now National Park. 

The long drive up the valley is rewarded by arriving at a pleasant picnic spot and campground, impressive views of steep hillsides and the prominence of Glen Rock jutting out from the valley’s eastern wall. Also of interest are the slab hut with its walls hung with accounts of local history, and the Aboriginal native garden. The latter is dominated by small trees that do not give a representative array of native food plants. I believe our Nats. member Janet Crompton is related to the Philp family who lived locally and gave their name to Mt. Philp one of the many sizeable peaks. 

(Report and photos by Neil McKilligan)

Plants at Glen Rock 

Melaleuca bracteata, Glen Rock

Very little of the original vegetation survives in the vicinity of the creek at Glen Rock - a classic “depauperate” environment where clearing has removed most of the native plants, and only the hardiest survive. Two native trees, black tea tree, Melaleuca bracteata, and river she-oak, Casuarina cunninghamiana, were the predominant trees, with just a few kurrajongs (native) and pepperinas (introduced weeds) sprinkled among them. The undergrowth all consisted of weeds, with the exception of a few, hard to find, native nettles and bluebells, and one lonely matrush. The tea trees did their best to make up for the poverty of the flora, with lovely large, old specimens showing off their impressive, shady, green canopies.

 

Some us of took a further walk upstream where some equally outstanding, specimens occurred. These were distinguished by their astonishing height, with some having massive, straight trunks that did not branch till they reached a great height. This growth pattern reveals that when they were young, they grew in dense scrub that forced them upwards. A few remaining dry rainforest tree species, including an equally outstanding large whalebone tree Streblus brunonianus, gave us a clue as to what the long-vanished creek vegetation would once have been. Historical records tell us that dense “scrubs” in the creeks of the area were rigorously cleared in the early days of white settlement, as they provided refuges for aborigines. This was Jagera territory, and members of this tribe were a warlike lot, much feared by the settlers.

The camping ground boasts a very good Aboriginal Plant Use Garden, which informed us that the sweet nectar from the white, bottlebrush flowers of the tea trees, (not in evidence on our visit), was sucked directly from the flowers or made into a sweet drink by soaking in water, and the leaves were used medicinally for headaches, colds, and “general sickness”.

Acacia salicina seeds and arils, Glen Rock

On the path in that garden, the bright red arils of sally wattle Acacia salicina also attracted our attention. Red also attracts the attention of birds, and it was obvious that parrots of some kind had been eating the seeds, and dropping the pods on the ground. This is the only local wattle with red arils (the cords which attach the seed to the pod) so they help us to identify the plant.

Garden signage told us that Aborigines ate the seeds of this plant, and used its leaves as fish poison and its wood for making boomerangs. Seed collection was made easy for them by ants, which collect them for their very nutritious, oily arils, but leave the unwanted seeds outside their nests.

(Plant report and photographs by Trish Gardner)

Species List

Junction View to Glen Rock N.P., 5 October 2014 compiled by Lesley Beaton from member’s sightings.

Junction View:  27°48'0.73"S, 152°11'14.09"E

Channel-billed Cuckoo, Laughing Kookaburra, Noisy Friarbird, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Currawong, Torresian Crow,

Challawong: Striated Pardalote, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Leaden Flycatcher.

Glen Rock N.P.: 27°53'15.41"S, 152°14'45.86"E

Birds: Crested Pigeon, Straw-necked Ibis, Galah, Pale-headed Rosella, Laughing Kookaburra, Rainbow Bee-eater, White-throated Treecreeper, Satin Bowerbird, Superb Fairy-wren, White-browed Scrubwren, Striated Pardalote, Noisy Miner, Brown Honeyeater, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird, Little Friarbird, Grey-crowned Babbler, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Rufous Whistler, Grey Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Willie Wagtail, Torresian Crow, Magpie-lark, Welcome Swallow. 

Butterflies: Large Grass-yellow Eurema hecabe, Glasswing Acraea andromacha Meadow Argus Junonia villida, Common Crow Euploea core, Lesser Wanderer Danaus chrysippus, Common Grass Blue Zizina labradus labradus. 

 Dragonfly: Australian Emperor Hemianax papuensis

Reptiles: Goanna, Eastern Bearded Dragon Pogona barbata.

Blackfeller Creek between Glen Rock boundary and Junction View: compiled by Al Young

Birds: Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal, Australasian Grebe, Little Black Cormorant, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Dusky Moorhen, Sacred Kingfisher, White-throated Gerygone, Bell Miner, Eastern Whipbird, Willie Wagtail, Olive-backed Oriole

Dragonflies:Australian Emperor – Hemianax papuensis, Scarlet Percher – Diplacodes haematodes, Wandering Percher – Diplacodes bipunctata.  Reptiles: Macquarie Turtle – Emydura macquarii

Mt Sylvia: Pheasant Coucal  (Submitted by Lauren Marlatt)  

Scarlet Percher (photo by Al Young)

Australian Empereor (photo by Al Young)