Welcome to the August enewsletter 

Native Plants for NSW – August 2021

The monthly enewsletter of the Australian Plants Society NSW

Lake Menindee (photo: Heather Miles)

In our August issue

• Welcome to the enewsletter

• From our President

• Strategy update

• A trip to the central west in October

• Online plant sales

• Rainforest recovery in northern NSW
  

• Celebrating National Tree Day

• On trees – answers from our experts group

• Catch up on recent stories on trees

• Biennial conference update: tours
  

• Study Group updates: Correa, Eremophila and Grevillea

• On the APS NSW website: 143 tree profiles. 

Welcome to the enewsletter

We might not be able to celebrate National Tree Day on 1 August in groups, but take a moment to appreciate the trees in your life. We celebrate trees this issue. Remember, each enewsletter issue is also saved as a pdf file here. Stories, photos, events and feedback are welcome. Please email the editor Rhonda Daniels at enewsletter@austplants.com.au 

From our President Heather Miles

What a month! I hope you are coping well through these tough and sometimes lonely times. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you'd like any support. On a personal note, I decided this lockdown to use the time more wisely. So far, I've learnt a new software package, gone through photos from two pre-COVID trips, progressed a photobook with my granddaugher and pulled lantana on our property...now that's fun (not).

We've also been asked to lead a Zoom session with years 3 and 4 (ages 7 and 8) on planting a native garden. I'll let you know how I go, but it's been a while since I conversed with that age group. Stay safe! Contact me at president@austplants.com.au 

Update on our strategy 

We have now agreed our next five years' strategy and are starting to implement it. The outcomes are simple – more native plants in gardens, more native plants conserved, more sharing about native plants and our members supported. Read a short summary of the strategy here. In the next few months, we will be sharing more information about:

• creating two virtual groups open to all members: a Small Spaces Interest Group and Regen Interest Group
• better promoting and supporting members' own conservation activities
• improving our support and engagement with members.

Your ideas on what you value most as a member are welcome.

If you are interested in helping in any way with the strategy, please let Heather Miles know at president@austplants.com.au.

Activities – check changes 

With Stay-at-home orders for Greater Sydney extended until at least the end of August, most activities are cancelled or by Zoom. Check our calendar here.

Catch up on meetings on YouTube

Some groups are holding meetings online by Zoom. Check these recordings of recent meetings on our YouTube channel:

• Greening our Bushland Shire by Hornsby Council at North Shore Group in July here
• From flower to fruit: the diversity of fruits and seeds by Rhonda Daniels at Menai Group in July here. Photo below: Eucalyptus pilularis (Sutherland Group).

A trip to the central west in October 

APS NSW is considering establishing an interest group to share greater knowledge and skills in how to support regeneration, revegetation and restoration of NSW natural landscapes, leading to greater resilience.

One of our objectives is to support the protection and conservation of native flora and fauna, which can be achieved by the conservation of natural environments, habitat management and the restoration of degraded environments.

This APS trip to the central west from Friday 15 to Monday 18 October will help provide a greater understanding of native plants and habitat resilience and what individuals and groups can do to assist.

We have arranged to visit seven properties in the central west near Milthorpe, Dubbo, Narromine and Toongi. Six of the owners are actively involved in restoring the natural revegetation on their properties. They are enthusiastic to show and discuss what they have achieved.

Three properties are owned by APS NSW members: Jean and Basil Baldwin at Forest Reef and Andrew and Jenny Knop at Dubbo and Narromine. See Andrew's Zoom presentation to APS NSW last year on regenerating properties in western NSW here: APS NSW YouTube channel.  

This is an exciting initiative and a wonderful opportunity to explore the central west of NSW and see what some of our innovative and committed property owners are doing to conserve natural habitats.

Please register for more information

If you are interested in joining the trip 15–18 October, please register here so we can let the property owners know how many people to expect. We will send you the itinerary, locations and a summary of what the owners have achieved. 

There is no charge, but you pay your own travel, food and accommodation expenses.

Online plant sales 

Last year under COVID restrictions, Central Coast Group ran a successful online plant sale, with plant pick up onsite. Read how they did it here.

Check our list here for options to buy seeds and plants online.

Rainforest recovery in platypus country

In June APS Far North Coast met the Goonellabah Tucki Landcare Group who showed them the extensive work they have undertaken throughout Birdwing Butterfly Gully and the bushland and parkland area along Tucki Tucki Creek.

The reserve along the creek had unfortunately been neglected for a long time, but over a number of years, members of the group have organised the progressive removal of some very large camphor laurels. This job has had its challenges due to the need to ensure public safety during removal. Removal of the camphors has allowed the growth of a wide variety of rainforest plants that were previously suppressed. Regrowth has been supplemented by planting many hundreds of locally endemic rainforest species. The planting material has consisted of advanced stock, propagated from seed collected from local sources. The streambank plantings help reduce the movement of sediment into the creek which would threaten the important platypus habitat.

Read more by Doug Yates here.

Celebrating National Tree Day

Check these two articles by researchers on The Conversation website:

• Friday essay: trees have many stories to tell. Is this our last chance to read them? by Gregory Moore at the University of Melbourne. It's no coincidence that more books about trees are popping up. There is an air of desperation in new books by Peter Wohllben, Janine Burke and others.
• Will your grandchildren have the chance to visit Australia’s sacred trees? Only if our sick indifference to Aboriginal heritage is cured by Rob N. Williams at the University of Sydney. Sacred trees are a cornerstone of our national identity. They transcend simple economics and sit at the centre of the sacred — sentinels in ceremony, birthing and burials.

Photo below: Hymenosporum flavum (native frangipani) by Heather Miles here.

On trees – answers from our experts

• religious trees: did people interfere with a tree to give an unusual effect or was it most likely to be natural?
• trees in trees: sown by a person or naturally ‘planted’?
• the long stem planting method for native trees.

Read more here. Photo below: Jane Pye.

Catch up on our previous stories on trees

• Harry Loots on trees of Cumberland State Forest here (photo below: Eucalyptus saligna)
• Graham Fry on city and country planting trees together here and photos by Ralph Cartwright of the weekend here
• Lloyd Hedges on growing casuarinas for the Glossies in the Mist project here.

Biennial conference 2022 update – which tours for you?

APS NSW is hosting the ANPSA Biennial Conference in Kiama in 12–16 September 2022, with our theme Australian flora – past present future.

Pre and post tours: To help with planning, we want to know which tours you are interested in. There are five tours: Lord Howe Island, Warrumbungles and Pilliga, Blue Mountains, Sydney and South Coast. More details here. To help us estimate demand, please use the link here to indicate your interest. Although this is our booking site (Humanitix), it is not a firm booking, just an indication of interest. 

Registration for the conference and tours: We plan to open booking for the conference and tours in February 2022. The tour to Lord Howe might open earlier, and we will let you know if that occurs.

More activities: We are hosting a free tour of the Kiama region on the Saturday before the conference, 10 September. We are planning a Market Day for the local community on Sunday 11 September – a combined plant sale and local farmers market as an opportunity to promote native plants.

Accommodation: With the increase in regional travel in NSW, accommodation has become tighter. We suggest you check accommodation options and potentially book, but be very aware of cancellation policies. See information on Kiama accommodation here and on the website here. Several locations have discounts for conference attendees (reference Kiama Pavilion).

Any questions, please ask Ralph Cartwright on Conf2022@spin.net.au. Looking forward to hosting many of you next year in Kiama!

Study Group updates

Nicole Maher summarises recent Study Group newsletters. Explore our wide range of national Study Groups and their newsletter archives and see how to join a group for free here. 

Correa Study Group Newsletter 63, July 2021

Many of Neil Marriot’s Correa pulchella plants are putting on a bold show at the moment in his Grampians (Vic) garden. Neil is currently surveying all the forms and cultivars of this species in an attempt to provide accuracy to their cultivar names. While Neil has found C. pulchella to be the hardiest of all the correas, C. reflexa is one of the touchiest, with many requiring grafting onto a hardy rootstock such as C. glabra. David and Barb Pye also report on their success with C. pulchella, describing it as a highly desirable species, small in habit and showy in flower. They have had great success propagating C. pulchella from cuttings, both at their own property and also at Melton Botanic Gardens, both in central Victoria.

Photo below: Correa reflexa from our plant profile database here.

Eremophila Study Group Newsletter 131, June 2021

Eremophila subfloccosa is the feature species for the newsletter. It is native to WA and SA, grows mainly as a groundcover reaching up to 1 m tall and 2 m in diameter. It has striking, aromatic foliage, and is an excellent bird-attractor. It is very hardy in most situations, and all sub-species are frost tolerant. However it can suffer dieback or sooty mould in areas that have wet winters, as moisture is trapped by its hairy leaves. It therefore does best with plenty of space and air movement around it, and possibly pruning of lower leaves to delay damping off when it rains.

Yuandamarra from Red Centre enterprises spoke at a recent SA group meeting on how eremophilas are seen in Australian First Nations culture. He noted that distribution of plants has been influenced by European settlement, and many plants were more widely distributed than our current understanding. This influences his plant choice in revegetation projects, where he uses eremophilas that have not been shown in European records, but indigenous culture has stories of their existence in that location.

A discussion on hybrids at the Queensland group meeting led to a description of the two types of structures of eremophila flowers:

• Bird-pollinated flowers have stamens and styles extending outside the flower, and the petals are usually spaced four up with a thin bottom petal curved down.
• Insect-pollinated flowers, on the other hand, have spread out petals, with the bottom petal broader so the insect can land on it. Many of these also have dots or lines that lead the insect inside the flower to the stamen and styles.

Grevillea Study Group Newsletter 119, June 2021

Helen Howard, a chief grafter of eucalypts for Stan Henry for many years, demonstrated her grafting methods at a recent NSW group meeting. She uses a whip graft on one side for grevilleas and on two sides for eucalypts. She uses 5 mL of household bleach to two cups of water to treat the stock and scion before joining, emphasising the need to keep the components moist before binding with Parafilm. The stock was prepared to include a growth bud near the cut and the scion cut was opposite a bud, leaving the bud to be covered with the tape towards the tip of the scion cut.

Gregory Moore describes the ‘fiery flowers’ of Grevillea robusta, the silky oak. It is the largest of the genus, reaching up to 30 m. While G. robusta has been declared an environmental weed in parts of NSW and Victoria, where it grows outside its native range, it is now declining in its natural rainforest and wet forest habitat. Grevilleas literally drip nectar, much to the delight of native birds and bees, but some, like the silky oak, contain hydrogen cyanide. It also contains tridecyl resorcinol, which causes an allergic reaction leading to contact dermatitis. When working with silky oaks, it is best to wear gloves, face mask, protective eye wear and long-sleeved clothing.

Photo: Grevillea 'Pink Surprise' here is attractive to honeyeaters. 

On the APS NSW website

Our website has our membership benefits, how to join, District Group details, volunteering opportunities and resources. Members get a membership renewal email and can also renew online here. The form in Australian Plants is for the journal only.

• We have over 143 profiles of trees in our plant profile database. Profiles are being added regularly by Dan Clarke and Jeff Howes. Check our database here. 

Photo finish

Corymbia gummifera by Alan Fairley from our plant profile database here

Australian Plants Society NSW

www.austplants.com.au

enewsletter@austplants.com.au

PO Box 263, Cremorne Junction NSW 2090 
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