Greetings fellow Foxies,

For a long while I have noticed that some old tracks remained bare decades after being protected from traffic although gravelly soils often recovered faster than sands or clays. The diagram on the left shows that  native plants can selectively channel water down the stem to their roots. I have wondered whether a part of the revegetation problem is due to rainfall being unable to penetrate soil after long term plant removal. Last Saturday I noticed erosion on a sandy track after only 7mls rain.
You may have noticed bare areas that look like they have been dug by a deranged rabbit. Not so, this is the work of your humble correspondent, thinking that it helps new plant growth. Am I doing any good or just keeping fit enough to remain competitive at table tennis?
Yesterday I decided to answer this question by digging pits after 25mm rain on sandy and horrible clay parts of a closed track below a breakaway. The sandy pit below shows that the undisturbed topsoil was barely wet, except under the shallow hole that allowed time for the water to overcome the highly water repellent surface.

Water remained for over a day on the hard and dispersive clay soil, and I noticed that water had only penetrated a few cm into the subsoil. However on either side, the subsoil was completely dry.
Conclusion: Reducing water flow by digging pits and increasing surface roughness will greatly improve plant regeneration.
Deeper pits are needed on clay soils. Hmm.....I need to start a Foxes Lair boot camp. Free entry and tuition!

In contrast, in 30 odd years here I have only seen the Rabbit Orchid (Leptoceras menziesii) flower once in September after the 2009 fire in two patches on the Granite Walk.

The Red Beak Orchid (Burnettia nigricans) also only flowered that year near the caravan park entrance. Otherwise both species occur as small and large heart leaves respectively on the ground. The prominently fringed Red Beak labellum acts as a pathway for small native bees that go down to the base for nectar and pollinate the flower. Rabbit Orchids also use a nectar reward for native bees.

Greetings fellow Foxies,

As I drove through the salt lakes south of Pingrup yesterday my eyes were drawn to a gleaming yellow bush that turned out to be  Pittosporum angustifolium commonly known as weeping pittosporum, gumbi gumbi or native apricot. I am particularly interested in this as a specimen had been collected in Foxes Lair near the water tank, but it hasn’t been seen again. Vaguely recalling something about bush tucker I took a chomp. The taste was worse than disgusting and after much gagging, spitting, and a resolution to brush up on bushcraft, I recovered sufficiently to take a photo. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Australian Aboriginal people used it topically for eczema, pruritis or to induce lactation in mothers following child-birth and internally for coughs colds or cramps. I tried to induce some colleagues to taste the appealing fruit without success. They are a suspicious lot!