Botany Nerds Ahoy

Lovely shots Craig.

GuySmiley wrote:

True that on prices but he did have a broader influence on the native plant nurseries industry causing many more nurseries to be established and thrive, cheers

Guy. Great point. You are very correct with that statement. Other nurseries soon copied him or at least produced voluminous amounts of plants that they knew Bill sold lots of, run of the mill general native plants for landscaping.
It also educated us and instilled a mindset that we should have about choosing the right plant for the right location instead of this stupendous idea of removing soil and dramatically altering its structure and or texture just so we can plant a ‘special plant, none of that makes sense for soil preservation or an enhancement of biodiversity, which should always be our first and final thought when it comes to species selection. AW

Yeah, glorious.

AW, normally hear the Noisy Pitta call right on dusk, or more rarely just before dawn (before the dawn chorus starts).

Lately, he/she has been calling in the middle of the night.

3 really loud calls last night.

The "walk to work" call.

Have you heard it?

freeride76 wrote:

Yeah, glorious.

AW, normally hear the Noisy Pitta call right on dusk, or more rarely just before dawn (before the dawn chorus starts).

Lately, he/she has been calling in the middle of the night.

3 really loud calls last night.

The "walk to work" call.

Have you heard it?

Freeride76. Hi. I’ve not heard the call, I’ve only had 3 encounters with them in the past, very crepuscular as you know., saw birds by pure chance and not for long. Generally they sometimes move to higher ground for breeding and are found a lower altitudes when not breeding. Colleagues have sometimes reinforced what you’ve said, when they alter their calling from the normal times , it may indicate mating attempts and or the selection of partner has occurred, or broods are already present and its the calling between both adult birds., It’s extremely hard to get your head around their existence, you don't get much time to study them extensively.

Again, I’ve got Pitta envy, large bird group, Indonesian Archipelago has huge species numbers, as you’d probably expect at those latitudes.AW

Not directly relevant, but I had an experience last week. I went outside to take a leak at about 1am, I live on a bush block, surrounded by farms and bush blocks, and there was this sound in the bushes about 20 meters away, that sounded exactly like some guy going 'Yewwww!'

I stopped mid-stream and listened, it was a still night, and it happened again. Exactly like some guy in the bushes going 'Yewwww!'. I waited, and it happened a third time.

It was fun rationalising it in my bleary state - was it a fox (I thought probably?) or had some weirdo driven up my long dirt driveway, hidden his car, sat in a cold bush for a couple of hours, and waited till I came outside to wee, and gone 'Yeewwww!' 3 times?
This made me laugh out loud, finish up and go back to bed, Chuckled myself to sleep.

@ AlfredWallace

I have a Xanthorrhoea question, my mate has a bush block down Port Albert way with maybe a thousand Xanthorrhoea on it i assume X. australis but I dont know.

Anyway about 15 were dug out at various times over a few year period and planted in his garden, going back into a very similar coastal sandy soil (not tested for ph etc) location almost same distance from ocean, some mound planted some not, some planted in very elevated well drained gardens.

And i was there for the moving of about half of them and we got huge root balls with minimal disturbance done in early spring.

But maybe ten years latter I don't think any survived, maybe the odd one died in the first year or went backwards, but some put on new growth and looked amazing for years and years, some were burnt as a test, and most i think died after three to five plus years with odd one lasting longer, but after about ten plus years i think eventually he might have lost them all big or small, and weirdly enough there wasn't any real pattern on what ones died or hung on so long, big or small, or if mound planted with super free draining soil or just on lower ground level etc

I know they have that bacterial relationship thing with the roots that if disturbed and die the plant dies, i dont know a lot about it, but i would have expected if they died from this it would have happened fairly quickly or at least in the first year or so..

What do you think could have been the causes of death?

I dont know much about this type of thing but the only thing i can think of is that there was already some type of fungal pathogen already in the soil that eventually got them or an airborne thing.

thoughts???

basesix wrote:

Not directly relevant, but I had an experience last week. I went outside to take a leak at about 1am, I live on a bush block, surrounded by farms and bush blocks, and there was this sound in the bushes about 20 meters away, that sounded exactly like some guy going 'Yewwww!'

I stopped mid-stream and listened, it was a still night, and it happened again. Exactly like some guy in the bushes going 'Yewwww!'. I waited, and it happened a third time.

It was fun rationalising it in my bleary state - was it a fox (I thought probably?) or had some weirdo driven up my long dirt driveway, hidden his car, sat in a cold bush for a couple of hours, and waited till I came outside to wee, and gone 'Yeewwww!' 3 times?
This made me laugh out loud, finish up and go back to bed, Chuckled myself to sleep.

You stopped midstream? That's some impressive Kegel control....

Freeride76. I know you’ll appreciate this.

This beautiful immature female,
just about to become a complete adult , she’s on her own , none of her kin present, has been in a particularly small swamp in central Victoria for the last 4-5 weeks. I and a few others were privileged to witness this rarely seen bird, whose numbers are critically low in Australia. Daily, bird observers wait a few hours (not knowing the whole time she is present in that grass) when between approximately 2.00pm to around 2.45pm she walks out of a sward of short lime green colour fine grass adjacent the waters edge and goes ballistic, in the mud probing for invertebrates. Stays out for about 40 minutes then simply returns to her refuge.

Australian Painted Snipe. Reverse sexual dimorphism is on display with this species, she is larger and more decoratively coloured than her male counterpart. Not the norm.AW

icandig wrote:

basesix wrote:

Not directly relevant, but I had an experience last week. I went outside to take a leak at about 1am, I live on a bush block, surrounded by farms and bush blocks, and there was this sound in the bushes about 20 meters away, that sounded exactly like some guy going 'Yewwww!'

I stopped mid-stream and listened, it was a still night, and it happened again. Exactly like some guy in the bushes going 'Yewwww!'. I waited, and it happened a third time.

It was fun rationalising it in my bleary state - was it a fox (I thought probably?) or had some weirdo driven up my long dirt driveway, hidden his car, sat in a cold bush for a couple of hours, and waited till I came outside to wee, and gone 'Yeewwww!' 3 times?
This made me laugh out loud, finish up and go back to bed, Chuckled myself to sleep.

You stopped midstream? That's some impressive Kegel control....

haha, probably made it sound more dynamic than it was ...didn't re-start the stream after the inevitable pauses for a man my age..?

basesix wrote:

Not directly relevant, but I had an experience last week. I went outside to take a leak at about 1am, I live on a bush block, surrounded by farms and bush blocks, and there was this sound in the bushes about 20 meters away, that sounded exactly like some guy going 'Yewwww!'

I stopped mid-stream and listened, it was a still night, and it happened again. Exactly like some guy in the bushes going 'Yewwww!'. I waited, and it happened a third time.

It was fun rationalising it in my bleary state - was it a fox (I thought probably?) or had some weirdo driven up my long dirt driveway, hidden his car, sat in a cold bush for a couple of hours, and waited till I came outside to wee, and gone 'Yeewwww!' 3 times?
This made me laugh out loud, finish up and go back to bed, Chuckled myself to sleep.

Basesix. Fox id say, omnipresent here.AW

Thats amazing AW. Beautiful bird.

I love water or wetland birds.

Lovely family of buff banded rails lives adjacent to the house block and I see them regularly.

They have a range of calls- I think I have most of them catalogued now.

Not too long and the new chicks will show up- black and white colorations which the parents loudly call too.

All the snakes have shown up in the past fortnight with the warmer weather- already seen carpet snakes, red bellied blacks, whip snakes and eastern browns.

indo-dreaming wrote:

@ AlfredWallace

I have a Xanthorrhoea question, my mate has a bush block down Port Albert way with maybe a thousand Xanthorrhoea on it i assume X. australis but I dont know.

Anyway about 15 were dug out at various times over a few year period and planted in his garden, going back into a very similar coastal sandy soil (not tested for ph etc) location almost same distance from ocean, some mound planted some not, some planted in very elevated well drained gardens.

And i was there for the moving of about half of them and we got huge root balls with minimal disturbance done in early spring.

But maybe ten years latter I don't think any survived, maybe the odd one died in the first year or went backwards, but some put on new growth and looked amazing for years and years, some were burnt as a test, and most i think died after three to five plus years with odd one lasting longer, but after about ten plus years i think eventually he might have lost them all big or small, and weirdly enough there wasn't any real pattern on what ones died or hung on so long, big or small, or if mound planted with super free draining soil or just on lower ground level etc

I know they have that bacterial relationship thing with the roots that if disturbed and die the plant dies, i dont know a lot about it, but i would have expected if they died from this it would have happened fairly quickly or at least in the first year or so..

What do you think could have been the causes of death?

I dont know much about this type of thing but the only thing i can think of is that there was already some type of fungal pathogen already in the soil that eventually got them or an airborne thing.

thoughts???

Indo. Hi. You’ve half answered your own question. grass trees resent being moved. The ones we see for sale are only a small representation of survivors with many more lost through the attempt to translocate them.

Phytophthora cinnamomi Cinnamon Root Rot Fungus. Classified as a fungus, it’s ancient and is closely related algae. Ongoing scientific discussion is the theme here.
This pathogen kills grass trees wherever people or vehicles transmits spores, generally in footwear and tyres, imperative to wash those two when moving from infested areas to non-infested ones.

I’d feel terrible moving grass trees, knowing death is highly likely. A gentle reminder is that they only grow in height annually around 10mm. It makes you appreciate time on earth when see one 8-12m in height.
Leave them alone. AW.

freeride76 wrote:

Thats amazing AW. Beautiful bird.

I love water or wetland birds.

Lovely family of buff banded rails lives adjacent to the house block and I see them regularly.

They have a range of calls- I think I have most of them catalogued now.

Not too long and the new chicks will show up- black and white colorations which the parents loudly call too.

All the snakes have shown up in the past fortnight with the warmer weather- already seen carpet snakes, red bellied blacks, whip snakes and eastern browns.

Freeride76. Good one fella. A few BB Rails reported around here today also by some of our members. Love seeing them in action.
I saw, always only for a couple of seconds, the fast hiding and the rear end of a Spotless Crake yesterday, chuffed, 2 in 6 months, it’s only ever a glimpse.

We get EB snakes, Whip Snakes, Tigers and Red-Bellied, mostly big Eastern Browns.
Beam me up to yours, all those species sound great especially as it’s warming. AW

Here is a 2m long 60mm thick EB snake that had been gorging on rats and mice under an old metal garden panel on the ground.

AlfredWallace wrote:

freeride76 wrote:

Thats amazing AW. Beautiful bird.

I love water or wetland birds.

Lovely family of buff banded rails lives adjacent to the house block and I see them regularly.

They have a range of calls- I think I have most of them catalogued now.

Not too long and the new chicks will show up- black and white colorations which the parents loudly call too.

All the snakes have shown up in the past fortnight with the warmer weather- already seen carpet snakes, red bellied blacks, whip snakes and eastern browns.

Freeride76. Good one fella. A few BB Rails reported around here today also by some of our members. Love seeing them in action.
I saw, always only for a couple of seconds, the fast hiding and the rear end of a Spotless Crake yesterday, chuffed, 2 in 6 months, it’s only ever a glimpse.

We get EB snakes, Whip Snakes, Tigers and Red-Bellied, mostly big Eastern Browns.
Beam me up to yours, all those species sound great especially as it’s warming. AW

Here is a 2m long 60mm thick EB snake that had been gorging on rats and mice under an old metal garden panel on the ground.

And a male Grey Goshawk (white morph) not far from Posso’s.

basesix wrote:

icandig wrote:

basesix wrote:

Not directly relevant, but I had an experience last week. I went outside to take a leak at about 1am, I live on a bush block, surrounded by farms and bush blocks, and there was this sound in the bushes about 20 meters away, that sounded exactly like some guy going 'Yewwww!'

I stopped mid-stream and listened, it was a still night, and it happened again. Exactly like some guy in the bushes going 'Yewwww!'. I waited, and it happened a third time.

It was fun rationalising it in my bleary state - was it a fox (I thought probably?) or had some weirdo driven up my long dirt driveway, hidden his car, sat in a cold bush for a couple of hours, and waited till I came outside to wee, and gone 'Yeewwww!' 3 times?
This made me laugh out loud, finish up and go back to bed, Chuckled myself to sleep.

You stopped midstream? That's some impressive Kegel control....

haha, probably made it sound more dynamic than it was ...didn't re-start the stream after the inevitable pauses for a man my age..?

Basesix. Foxes love a loose hanging fleshy appendage !!!. A bit of fun, it’s always relevant. AW

^^ oof! AW : / that'll make me have dark imaginings if it happens again!

that mystery/curly one from a little back in the comments - Caustis recurvata (Curly sedge). Related is Caustis blakekyii (which I've always called Foxtail Fern - sometimes can look like an impressive mully cola). Love them both. Years back, I'd often get bunches (yes, taken form the NP...) and put then in a vase in the house. They look great and hold their form for ages. I think they are now in demand for the floristry industry.

and re transplanting the grass trees - I understand for long-term success you'd have to ensure plenty of the soil surrounding them in their natural position is incorporated into the new site. As AW talks about, it all about the mycorrhizae. Good luck

Good work Greenjam, I thought a sedge but wasnt sure which one, not that common down here. Beautiful shot of the Goshawk, Alfred.

cool blackers. Both of those Caustis spp. can be quite common up here - I'm referring to Noosa NP and surrounding bushland areas. And for a sedge, it's not often in wet/boggy areas - also on the more upland sandy soils. Sedges overall are wonderful - there are a number of other 'restios' tat are real favourites (but I think the genus name has been changed for some...). I see AW has lamented this - I share that feeling, some of these name changes seem unnecessary...

haha, seeds, well based on that, my guess is my weirdo in the bushes was an alarm call, but jeez it was unsettlingly calm and baritone-y.

A few from the weekend

AlfredWallace wrote:

indo-dreaming wrote:

@ AlfredWallace

I have a Xanthorrhoea question, my mate has a bush block down Port Albert way with maybe a thousand Xanthorrhoea on it i assume X. australis but I dont know.

Anyway about 15 were dug out at various times over a few year period and planted in his garden, going back into a very similar coastal sandy soil (not tested for ph etc) location almost same distance from ocean, some mound planted some not, some planted in very elevated well drained gardens.

And i was there for the moving of about half of them and we got huge root balls with minimal disturbance done in early spring.

But maybe ten years latter I don't think any survived, maybe the odd one died in the first year or went backwards, but some put on new growth and looked amazing for years and years, some were burnt as a test, and most i think died after three to five plus years with odd one lasting longer, but after about ten plus years i think eventually he might have lost them all big or small, and weirdly enough there wasn't any real pattern on what ones died or hung on so long, big or small, or if mound planted with super free draining soil or just on lower ground level etc

I know they have that bacterial relationship thing with the roots that if disturbed and die the plant dies, i dont know a lot about it, but i would have expected if they died from this it would have happened fairly quickly or at least in the first year or so..

What do you think could have been the causes of death?

I dont know much about this type of thing but the only thing i can think of is that there was already some type of fungal pathogen already in the soil that eventually got them or an airborne thing.

thoughts???

Indo. Hi. You’ve half answered your own question. grass trees resent being moved. The ones we see for sale are only a small representation of survivors with many more lost through the attempt to translocate them.

Phytophthora cinnamomi Cinnamon Root Rot Fungus. Classified as a fungus, it’s ancient and is closely related algae. Ongoing scientific discussion is the theme here.
This pathogen kills grass trees wherever people or vehicles transmits spores, generally in footwear and tyres, imperative to wash those two when moving from infested areas to non-infested ones.

I’d feel terrible moving grass trees, knowing death is highly likely. A gentle reminder is that they only grow in height annually around 10mm. It makes you appreciate time on earth when see one 8-12m in height.
Leave them alone. AW.

Yeah i guess thats all it can be, im not sure why but in our coastal area we seem to have a lot of plants that get affected by something that causes black dots on leaves or even will cause die back of an area of a plant.

I dont think its soil born i think its airborne, as i get it in my garden and can affect plants in pots and even Epiphytic type plants.

Always seems to happen over winter, and while it often affects a lot of broad type leaf plants and palms even tree ferns worst than natives, i have noticed it on native's too like on tea tree.

Yeah he has given up moving them, too sad to see anymore die, luckily the ones he moved were from an area that needed to be cleared anyway to build a cabin.

Nice stormy sunset GF.

Cheers blackers. Sunrise though, that’s looking east.
Hard to see on a phone but that’s Arthur’s Seat the suns coming over.
Unreal colours that morning

goofyfoot wrote:

Cheers blackers. Sunrise though, that’s looking east.
Hard to see on a phone but that’s Arthur’s Seat the suns coming over.
Unreal colours that morning

Haha, my bad. I should have known as I recognise the view. Probs coz I don't do sunrises very often these days, sunset is better here.

Craig wrote:

Thanks AW! Nailed it. Edible as well it seems.

A couple more..

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv4Hmhqy6tj/?img_index=1

Craig. Hi. Again, beautiful photos, you are a good photographer and you take perfect pictures that aid identification, well done.
That beautiful picture is Kunzea capitata, Pink Kunzea (related to Ti Trees) exhibiting one the most known diagnostic features of many plants in the family Myrtaceae, (Eucalyptus , Melaleuca, Callistemon etc. , ‘showy stamens’. AW

basesix wrote:

Not directly relevant, but I had an experience last week. I went outside to take a leak at about 1am, I live on a bush block, surrounded by farms and bush blocks, and there was this sound in the bushes about 20 meters away, that sounded exactly like some guy going 'Yewwww!'

I stopped mid-stream and listened, it was a still night, and it happened again. Exactly like some guy in the bushes going 'Yewwww!'. I waited, and it happened a third time.

It was fun rationalising it in my bleary state - was it a fox (I thought probably?) or had some weirdo driven up my long dirt driveway, hidden his car, sat in a cold bush for a couple of hours, and waited till I came outside to wee, and gone 'Yeewwww!' 3 times?
This made me laugh out loud, finish up and go back to bed, Chuckled myself to sleep.

Basesix, this call also has a yewww like sound…. but if you hear this at night you will probably be running back to bed ;-)
https://m.

Distracted wrote:

basesix wrote:

Not directly relevant, but I had an experience last week. I went outside to take a leak at about 1am, I live on a bush block, surrounded by farms and bush blocks, and there was this sound in the bushes about 20 meters away, that sounded exactly like some guy going 'Yewwww!'

I stopped mid-stream and listened, it was a still night, and it happened again. Exactly like some guy in the bushes going 'Yewwww!'. I waited, and it happened a third time.

It was fun rationalising it in my bleary state - was it a fox (I thought probably?) or had some weirdo driven up my long dirt driveway, hidden his car, sat in a cold bush for a couple of hours, and waited till I came outside to wee, and gone 'Yeewwww!' 3 times?
This made me laugh out loud, finish up and go back to bed, Chuckled myself to sleep.

Basesix, this call also has a yewww like sound…. but if you hear this at night you will probably be running back to bed ;-)
https://m.

Distracted. Hope you are well. Right you are. The Barn Owl group as opposed to the Typical Owl group have calls like you presented, screeching, terrifying visitors who venture into forests at night.
About 15 years ago, warm night in February, I took 6 young children including my son, into our closet National Park for a nocturnal walk. Managed to witness an Antechinus sp. chasing big bugs in a large woody shrub, male Koalas incessantly grunting and fighting over territory that had a female present.
Things were going smoothly until a Barn Owl came swooping and screeching into the area, immediately I had fingernails almost penetrate my skin as all the children ‘hung on for their dear lives’, only exception was my son who said ‘that was cool’.
Basesix lives in a geographic location that is way out of range for Sooty Owls, but I get your drift. Good stuff. AW.

goofyfoot wrote:

A few from the weekend

Goofyfoot. Nice photos mate. That little plant looks like a very small Olearia axillaris Coast Daisy Bush, making its way.

Don’t you love ‘first tracks’, gives you a read on overnight or early morning activities., definitely some macropod action there. AW

indo-dreaming wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

indo-dreaming wrote:

@ AlfredWallace

I have a Xanthorrhoea question, my mate has a bush block down Port Albert way with maybe a thousand Xanthorrhoea on it i assume X. australis but I dont know.

Anyway about 15 were dug out at various times over a few year period and planted in his garden, going back into a very similar coastal sandy soil (not tested for ph etc) location almost same distance from ocean, some mound planted some not, some planted in very elevated well drained gardens.

And i was there for the moving of about half of them and we got huge root balls with minimal disturbance done in early spring.

But maybe ten years latter I don't think any survived, maybe the odd one died in the first year or went backwards, but some put on new growth and looked amazing for years and years, some were burnt as a test, and most i think died after three to five plus years with odd one lasting longer, but after about ten plus years i think eventually he might have lost them all big or small, and weirdly enough there wasn't any real pattern on what ones died or hung on so long, big or small, or if mound planted with super free draining soil or just on lower ground level etc

I know they have that bacterial relationship thing with the roots that if disturbed and die the plant dies, i dont know a lot about it, but i would have expected if they died from this it would have happened fairly quickly or at least in the first year or so..

What do you think could have been the causes of death?

I dont know much about this type of thing but the only thing i can think of is that there was already some type of fungal pathogen already in the soil that eventually got them or an airborne thing.

thoughts???

Indo. Hi. You’ve half answered your own question. grass trees resent being moved. The ones we see for sale are only a small representation of survivors with many more lost through the attempt to translocate them.

Phytophthora cinnamomi Cinnamon Root Rot Fungus. Classified as a fungus, it’s ancient and is closely related algae. Ongoing scientific discussion is the theme here.
This pathogen kills grass trees wherever people or vehicles transmits spores, generally in footwear and tyres, imperative to wash those two when moving from infested areas to non-infested ones.

I’d feel terrible moving grass trees, knowing death is highly likely. A gentle reminder is that they only grow in height annually around 10mm. It makes you appreciate time on earth when see one 8-12m in height.
Leave them alone. AW.

Yeah i guess thats all it can be, im not sure why but in our coastal area we seem to have a lot of plants that get affected by something that causes black dots on leaves or even will cause die back of an area of a plant.

I dont think its soil born i think its airborne, as i get it in my garden and can affect plants in pots and even Epiphytic type plants.

Always seems to happen over winter, and while it often affects a lot of broad type leaf plants and palms even tree ferns worst than natives, i have noticed it on native's too like on tea tree.

Yeah he has given up moving them, too sad to see anymore die, luckily the ones he moved were from an area that needed to be cleared anyway to build a cabin.

IndoDreaming. Hi. Yep, Xanthorrhoea australis Austral Grass Tree (Asphodelaceae family) (australis, -, pertaining to or south of the equator) .

If you have any suspected plant diseases, leaves that are chlorotic or even signs of nutrient/pH deficiencies, send us some photos, I’m sure some of us will provide you with a solution.AW

GreenJam wrote:

that mystery/curly one from a little back in the comments - Caustis recurvata (Curly sedge). Related is Caustis blakekyii (which I've always called Foxtail Fern - sometimes can look like an impressive mully cola). Love them both. Years back, I'd often get bunches (yes, taken form the NP...) and put then in a vase in the house. They look great and hold their form for ages. I think they are now in demand for the floristry industry.

and re transplanting the grass trees - I understand for long-term success you'd have to ensure plenty of the soil surrounding them in their natural position is incorporated into the new site. As AW talks about, it all about the mycorrhizae. Good luck

Greenjam. Hope you are well, we haven’t spoken for a while. Thanks, I should’ve known that. I’ll try my best next time, Sir !!!.AW

G'day AW. Pretty good here thanks, despite continued tick battles wearing me down. On of the hazards of being a botany nerd! Anyway, had some blood tests earlier today, some concern around this alpha-gal shit that those damn ticks are increasingly spreading. I'm eagerly awaiting results...

well done with all your plant ID work on here. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading it all. Not contributing much yet as I'm heavily preoccupied with wrapping up a project (East Arnhem) over the next few months. But will chime in on occasion. Cheers.

indo-dreaming wrote:

@AlfredWallace

It is weird sometimes how you can ID a plant with limited details, generally you just instantly know but other times you might have to look a little more closely at different little aspect or break it down to a couple of species.

Like i said though my plant ID skills are very niche all those natives you can ID, id get maybe one out of ten if lucky.

Heres is two pics i just took from my garden with similar plants that are not so common.

This one is Trachycarpus fortunei cv. 'Wagnerianus'

Its like a dwarf version the leaflets are like 1/3 of the size and more stiff and stems(petiole) short and stiff, its a really pretty little palm almost has a bonsai type feel in real life. (although i have seen ones that are much more bonsai looking, they seem to have genetic variation and probably take on more of a bonsai look if full sun and neglected a little)

BTW. Those are water droplets not mottling or anything else.

And then this other one is a less common NZ Cordyline australis cultivar called "Karo Kiri"

Again it like a dwarf version of Cordyline australis, IMHO this plant should be much more widely grown unlike Cordyline australis its not messy it holds the old leaflets and they are easy too pull off and clean, and it doesn't grow that big max 2 metres and real compact and they are pretty much bullet proof to wind, salt, wet, dry, hail, heat, cold and if it gets to high or leggy they re-shoots easily when cut back, they are also suitable for growing in pots or small gardens.

It does have a PBR on it though so maybe thats why its not as widely grown as perhaps should be, i tend to find a lot of these more unique plants in areas of Melb that have Asian run nursery's like in Springvale , they always seem to have thing for rare or more collectable exotic plants.

BTW. The Palm one the left is a rare one from Madagascar Beccariophoenix alfredii (High Plateau Coconut Palm) it comes from inland higher altitude's areas where it gets very hot and very cold at times(night), so its a tuff palm, slow growing but when mature they looks almost like a Coconut palm without the coconuts
https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Beccariophoenix_alfredii

Madagascar for me is where its at for plants especially palms, the place has so many different types of palms they are still discovering new ones although sadly land clearing means many are no longer found in the wild and some might have have been lost forever if not in cultivation, there is also so much natural variation.

IndoDreaming. Im really enjoying the exposure to all these palms you show us.
Madagascar, now we’re talking. Im very interested in Xeriphytic plants, (matter of fact all plants) whether they are from Australia, California, Africa, Europe, Asia, Mexico and other parts of the Americas.

Madagascar was once part of Gondwana, broke away from Africa and the partial joining to the Indian sub-continent. You can clearly see via cartographic, geologic and topographic images that the shape of Madagascar would fit back into the east side of Africa today, if it was a ‘jigsaw puzzle’,
Residual traces of the separation can be clearly seen today at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel with the chain of islands comprising the Comoros Archipelago, (Mayotte is the capital). I do believe Basesix , one of our own subscribers is reading a book at present about a very famous fish caught in that region.
As we stand here today, another enormous chunk of East Africa is breaking away from the continent, see Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika, plate tectonics activity at the divergent plate boundaries.

On Madagascar, plants evolved in isolation and speciated to what we see today, an extremely diverse array of flora from humid and hot to, dry, windy and hot desert like biomes, all in response to meteorological pressures applied to the island.
At Morondava on the East coast you will find this extraordinary landscape of Boab, Baobab trees. Truly amazing

Adansonia grandidieri in all their splendour

Indo, here at home i grow Madagascar plants such as Alluaudia procera Madagascar Ocotillo (the tree Lemurs love, like in the movie), Pachypodium lamerei Madagascar Palm (its not really a true palm). From Southern California and northern Mexico deserts i grow the extremely rare Fouquieria splendens Ocotillo.
Plants, we dig ‘em. AW

GreenJam wrote:

G'day AW. Pretty good here thanks, despite continued tick battles wearing me down. On of the hazards of being a botany nerd! Anyway, had some blood tests earlier today, some concern around this alpha-gal shit that those damn ticks are increasingly spreading. I'm eagerly awaiting results...

well done with all your plant ID work on here. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading it all. Not contributing much yet as I'm heavily preoccupied with wrapping up a project (East Arnhem) over the next few months. But will chime in on occasion. Cheers.

Greenjam. Thanks for your reply. Geez, i hope you’ll be alright.
Your East Arnhem project intrigues me (none of my business) , what a part of Australia. Keep well.AW

haha, seeds. It's a thing.
https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/dscatt/about
I got my 'distinctive 4cm-diameter ring around the bite site' upon return from a Scotland trip, but tick-borne bacteria here often has symptoms like chronic fatigue and such, which is not immediately obvious, as we all have those kinda symptoms, at various stages, due to various things. Age or over-indulgence for example..
You mighta had some tick-nasties and not even known it : 0
I hear if you shout 'Spoon!' when in a marshland, they know you are one of them.
(gonna try for the million-dollar barra GreenJam?)

yeah seeds, interesting hey. They do seem to flock to me, maybe my scent or heat or something? something in the blood they sense? Problem lately is most arent even visible to the eye - micro-ticks, tiny larvae, or maybe even better classified as scrub-itch. But individuals, not the full blown infestation which I always knew scrub-itch to be. Anyway, I'm a bit distressed about it, and need solutions. Looking into Guinea Fowl to roam around the property, dousing the shoes and thongs in some DEET (not wanting that toxic shit on my skin), maybe abandoning some reveg areas for the foreseeable future, more regular mowing of other areas. Even started blitzing my clothes in a newly purchased clothes dryer (I always avoided buying one of those up till now) as they seem to get into clothes and then get on me later. I'm open to suggestions...

AW - those boabs are epic

GreenJam wrote:

yeah seeds, interesting hey. They do seem to flock to me, maybe my scent or heat or something? something in the blood they sense? Problem lately is most arent even visible to the eye - micro-ticks, tiny larvae, or maybe even better classified as scrub-itch. But individuals, not the full blown infestation which I always knew scrub-itch to be. Anyway, I'm a bit distressed about it, and need solutions. Looking into Guinea Fowl to roam around the property, dousing the shoes and thongs in some DEET (not wanting that toxic shit on my skin), maybe abandoning some reveg areas for the foreseeable future, more regular mowing of other areas. Even started blitzing my clothes in a newly purchased clothes dryer (I always avoided buying one of those up till now) as they seem to get into clothes and then get on me later. I'm open to suggestions...

AW - those boabs are epic

Greenjam. We worry on your behalf. Must be on ya mind a lot. Take care.

Adansonia stuff, a continuum. How’s the trunk girth on the third photo

Here in OZ we have one of the two species found away from Madagascar.
Adansonia gregorii Boab. (Kimberley region). (The Arabian Peninsula has the other species)

A general presumption on how it became to be here is intriguing to say the least. Most, including myself, several years ago presumed it was also part of plate tectonics with continental separations and became independently isolated.
But, in the last decade it is now assumed and accepted (anthropologically) that the large seeds were carried here by early hominids out of Africa. How intriguing is that ?
If search on Google or the like theres a few dissertations about this topic.

Who said plants are boring ? Not me. AW

Adansonia.
I'm guessing named by or in honour of the great French botanist.
Unpublished in his lifetime. Died a pauper.
Correct me if I'm wrong AW.
Loving this thread.

mattlock wrote:

Adansonia.
I'm guessing named by or in honour of the great French botanist.
Unpublished in his lifetime. Died a pauper.
Correct me if I'm wrong AW.
Loving this thread.

Mattlock. Hi. You know more than all of us (I’m joking)

.For Adansonia grandidieri The biggest and most famous trees, French botanist Michel Adanson described the tree to genus and another French botanist Alfred Grandidier to species.

Way too many Alfreds in all this dialogue, including me. A bit of botany fun. AW

AlfredWallace wrote:

Distracted. Hope you are well. Right you are. The Barn Owl group as opposed to the Typical Owl group have calls like you presented, screeching, terrifying visitors who venture into forests at night.
About 15 years ago, warm night in February, I took 6 young children including my son, into our closet National Park for a nocturnal walk. Managed to witness an Antechinus sp. chasing big bugs in a large woody shrub, male Koalas incessantly grunting and fighting over territory that had a female present.
Things were going smoothly until a Barn Owl came swooping and screeching into the area, immediately I had fingernails almost penetrate my skin as all the children ‘hung on for their dear lives’, only exception was my son who said ‘that was cool’.
Basesix lives in a geographic location that is way out of range for Sooty Owls, but I get your drift. Good stuff. AW.

AW , the awesome Boobook Owl also has an unusual Yewww call from about 1.40 in this vid.
https https://m.

Distracted wrote:

AW , the awesome Boobook Owl also has an unusual Yewww call from about 1.40 in this vid.
https https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qiqSyYYnVsA://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qiqSyY...

re the sound I heard Distracted, that is pretty much it! One, long pause, another.. Maybe not a fox alarm after all. wow.. haven't heard boobooks do that before!

Cheers AW.
Was he published in his lifetime?
I read about him in a novel!
Checking the facts.

Mattlock. Im not could at uploading anything but photos.
If you go to a search engine and type in Australian Geographic - How did the iconic Boab tree get to Australia ? You’ll find a good read. AW

AlfredWallace wrote:

indo-dreaming wrote:

@AlfredWallace

It is weird sometimes how you can ID a plant with limited details, generally you just instantly know but other times you might have to look a little more closely at different little aspect or break it down to a couple of species.

Like i said though my plant ID skills are very niche all those natives you can ID, id get maybe one out of ten if lucky.

Heres is two pics i just took from my garden with similar plants that are not so common.

This one is Trachycarpus fortunei cv. 'Wagnerianus'

Its like a dwarf version the leaflets are like 1/3 of the size and more stiff and stems(petiole) short and stiff, its a really pretty little palm almost has a bonsai type feel in real life. (although i have seen ones that are much more bonsai looking, they seem to have genetic variation and probably take on more of a bonsai look if full sun and neglected a little)

BTW. Those are water droplets not mottling or anything else.

And then this other one is a less common NZ Cordyline australis cultivar called "Karo Kiri"

Again it like a dwarf version of Cordyline australis, IMHO this plant should be much more widely grown unlike Cordyline australis its not messy it holds the old leaflets and they are easy too pull off and clean, and it doesn't grow that big max 2 metres and real compact and they are pretty much bullet proof to wind, salt, wet, dry, hail, heat, cold and if it gets to high or leggy they re-shoots easily when cut back, they are also suitable for growing in pots or small gardens.

It does have a PBR on it though so maybe thats why its not as widely grown as perhaps should be, i tend to find a lot of these more unique plants in areas of Melb that have Asian run nursery's like in Springvale , they always seem to have thing for rare or more collectable exotic plants.

BTW. The Palm one the left is a rare one from Madagascar Beccariophoenix alfredii (High Plateau Coconut Palm) it comes from inland higher altitude's areas where it gets very hot and very cold at times(night), so its a tuff palm, slow growing but when mature they looks almost like a Coconut palm without the coconuts
https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Beccariophoenix_alfredii

Madagascar for me is where its at for plants especially palms, the place has so many different types of palms they are still discovering new ones although sadly land clearing means many are no longer found in the wild and some might have have been lost forever if not in cultivation, there is also so much natural variation.

IndoDreaming. Im really enjoying the exposure to all these palms you show us.
Madagascar, now we’re talking. Im very interested in Xeriphytic plants, (matter of fact all plants) whether they are from Australia, California, Africa, Europe, Asia, Mexico and other parts of the Americas.

Madagascar was once part of Gondwana, broke away from Africa and the partial joining to the Indian sub-continent. You can clearly see via cartographic, geologic and topographic images that the shape of Madagascar would fit back into the east side of Africa today, if it was a ‘jigsaw puzzle’,
Residual traces of the separation can be clearly seen today at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel with the chain of islands comprising the Comoros Archipelago, (Mayotte is the capital). I do believe Basesix , one of our own subscribers is reading a book at present about a very famous fish caught in that region.
As we stand here today, another enormous chunk of East Africa is breaking away from the continent, see Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika, plate tectonics activity at the divergent plate boundaries.

On Madagascar, plants evolved in isolation and speciated to what we see today, an extremely diverse array of flora from humid and hot to, dry, windy and hot desert like biomes, all in response to meteorological pressures applied to the island.
At Morondava on the East coast you will find this extraordinary landscape of Boab, Baobab trees. Truly amazing

Adansonia grandidieri in all their splendour

Indo, here at home i grow Madagascar plants such as Alluaudia procera Madagascar Ocotillo (the tree Lemurs love, like in the movie), Pachypodium lamerei Madagascar Palm (its not really a true palm). From Southern California and northern Mexico deserts i grow the extremely rare Fouquieria splendens Ocotillo.
Plants, we dig ‘em. AW

Yes an amazing place, those shots of Adansonia grandidieri are amazing they are surreal, that one with the kids really gives you an idea of the scale.

Lots of the more common palms grown these days are from Madagascar.

-Golden cane
-Redneck palm
-Bizmark
-Majestic palms

Then Bottle & Spindle palms are from Mauritius and Reunion not far away

I cant be bother with the botanical names because technically i might be giving the wrong names as The Dypsis genera last year got spit into three different names.

Mattlock. In essence no, Adanson didn’t publish. He produced copious amounts of work but he proposed a stupid system of classification based on the number of organs biological organisms had within, He’s view was opposing the current at the time binomial system of classification by the Swede, Carolus Linneus , aka. Carl von Linne after he was knighted for his outstanding work of which we still use today. AW

indo-dreaming wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

indo-dreaming wrote:

@AlfredWallace

It is weird sometimes how you can ID a plant with limited details, generally you just instantly know but other times you might have to look a little more closely at different little aspect or break it down to a couple of species.

Like i said though my plant ID skills are very niche all those natives you can ID, id get maybe one out of ten if lucky.

Heres is two pics i just took from my garden with similar plants that are not so common.

This one is Trachycarpus fortunei cv. 'Wagnerianus'

Its like a dwarf version the leaflets are like 1/3 of the size and more stiff and stems(petiole) short and stiff, its a really pretty little palm almost has a bonsai type feel in real life. (although i have seen ones that are much more bonsai looking, they seem to have genetic variation and probably take on more of a bonsai look if full sun and neglected a little)

BTW. Those are water droplets not mottling or anything else.

And then this other one is a less common NZ Cordyline australis cultivar called "Karo Kiri"

Again it like a dwarf version of Cordyline australis, IMHO this plant should be much more widely grown unlike Cordyline australis its not messy it holds the old leaflets and they are easy too pull off and clean, and it doesn't grow that big max 2 metres and real compact and they are pretty much bullet proof to wind, salt, wet, dry, hail, heat, cold and if it gets to high or leggy they re-shoots easily when cut back, they are also suitable for growing in pots or small gardens.

It does have a PBR on it though so maybe thats why its not as widely grown as perhaps should be, i tend to find a lot of these more unique plants in areas of Melb that have Asian run nursery's like in Springvale , they always seem to have thing for rare or more collectable exotic plants.

BTW. The Palm one the left is a rare one from Madagascar Beccariophoenix alfredii (High Plateau Coconut Palm) it comes from inland higher altitude's areas where it gets very hot and very cold at times(night), so its a tuff palm, slow growing but when mature they looks almost like a Coconut palm without the coconuts
https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Beccariophoenix_alfredii

Madagascar for me is where its at for plants especially palms, the place has so many different types of palms they are still discovering new ones although sadly land clearing means many are no longer found in the wild and some might have have been lost forever if not in cultivation, there is also so much natural variation.

IndoDreaming. Im really enjoying the exposure to all these palms you show us.
Madagascar, now we’re talking. Im very interested in Xeriphytic plants, (matter of fact all plants) whether they are from Australia, California, Africa, Europe, Asia, Mexico and other parts of the Americas.

Madagascar was once part of Gondwana, broke away from Africa and the partial joining to the Indian sub-continent. You can clearly see via cartographic, geologic and topographic images that the shape of Madagascar would fit back into the east side of Africa today, if it was a ‘jigsaw puzzle’,
Residual traces of the separation can be clearly seen today at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel with the chain of islands comprising the Comoros Archipelago, (Mayotte is the capital). I do believe Basesix , one of our own subscribers is reading a book at present about a very famous fish caught in that region.
As we stand here today, another enormous chunk of East Africa is breaking away from the continent, see Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika, plate tectonics activity at the divergent plate boundaries.

On Madagascar, plants evolved in isolation and speciated to what we see today, an extremely diverse array of flora from humid and hot to, dry, windy and hot desert like biomes, all in response to meteorological pressures applied to the island.
At Morondava on the East coast you will find this extraordinary landscape of Boab, Baobab trees. Truly amazing

Adansonia grandidieri in all their splendour

Indo, here at home i grow Madagascar plants such as Alluaudia procera Madagascar Ocotillo (the tree Lemurs love, like in the movie), Pachypodium lamerei Madagascar Palm (its not really a true palm). From Southern California and northern Mexico deserts i grow the extremely rare Fouquieria splendens Ocotillo.
Plants, we dig ‘em. AW

Yes an amazing place, those shots of Adansonia grandidieri are amazing they are surreal, that one with the kids really gives you an idea of the scale.

Lots of the more common palms grown these days are from Madagascar.

-Golden cane
-Redneck palm
-Bizmark
-Majestic palms

Then Bottle & Spindle palms are from Mauritius and Reunion not far away

I cant be bother with the botanical names because technically i might be giving the wrong names as The Dypsis genera last year got spit into three different names.

Indo, Hi. I love Bismarckia palms. Beautiful to look at and touch.
Here is a photo I took last year in Padang, Sumatra, albeit a small one. The largest I’ve ever seen was years ago in the garden of a very wealthy home owner on the east headland in Cooktown, Qld. I stood there in amazement. Good stuff. AW

Distracted wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

Distracted. Hope you are well. Right you are. The Barn Owl group as opposed to the Typical Owl group have calls like you presented, screeching, terrifying visitors who venture into forests at night.
About 15 years ago, warm night in February, I took 6 young children including my son, into our closet National Park for a nocturnal walk. Managed to witness an Antechinus sp. chasing big bugs in a large woody shrub, male Koalas incessantly grunting and fighting over territory that had a female present.
Things were going smoothly until a Barn Owl came swooping and screeching into the area, immediately I had fingernails almost penetrate my skin as all the children ‘hung on for their dear lives’, only exception was my son who said ‘that was cool’.
Basesix lives in a geographic location that is way out of range for Sooty Owls, but I get your drift. Good stuff. AW.

AW , the awesome Boobook Owl also has an unusual Yewww call from about 1.40 in this vid.
https https://m.

Distracted. Nice post, I love Southern Boobooks- Mopoke, (Ninox boobook)) not be confused with Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).

There’s rarely a night here when I don’t hear them calling singularly or back and forth to another bird. They also have a strange gutteral call when they are keen to ‘get on’ with business .
They are mostly insectivorous but do eat rodents and other food items .
Here’s some photos recently from during the day, we accidentally disturbed them. AW