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Grevilleas

28/11/2016

 
Greetings fellow Foxies,
Grevilleas are family Proteaceae plants that are often confused with hakeas. As a general rule of thumb, grevilleas have flowers at the end of the shoot (terminal), and have papery seed capsules instead of hard nuts.
There are only two grevilleas in Foxes Lair., but several hakeas.

 Grevillea tenuiflora/Tassel grevillea  is a beautiful but atypical grevillea with narrow clustered flowers and a mildly rude pistil.
It has unusual and stunning flowers that remind me of a picture of marine spoon worms that my daughter sent from Korea. Koreans call them gaebul (penis fish), and consume them with relish to enhance their (ahem) vigour. Without claiming efficacy, I recommend a stroll on the Banksia walk in September to see masses of the flowers. Latin scholars amongst you know that tenuiflora is a taxonomist’s way of saying ‘narrow flower’.
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Tangled grevillea
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Narrow pistil
Grevillea leptobotrys/Tangled Grevillea is a great ground cover type plant that flowers on Banksia Walk brown stony loamy gravels in November/December. Its germination is also stimulated by fire
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Yilliminning rock in early-mid November

26/11/2016

 
Greetings fellow Foxies, 
Yilliminning Rock in November wasn't on my visiting list until I heard that the Elbow orchid was flowering, and was really glad that I went back. I went there about 7am which is a great time to see the morning light painting the shrubs and fluffy grass (species?), and to climb the rock when it is cool. The glowing yellow-green shrub patches amongst the salmon gums/wandoos are Leptomeria pauciflora (a native currant), yet another hemiparasite plant in the same family as quandongs. As I learn more about insignificantly flowered plants, I realise how many hemiparasites there are.
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Leptomeria pauciflora
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Fluffy grass in the sunlight
The prickly carpets of Pincushions/Borya sphaerocephala,in rock depressions, also known as resurrection plants have dried off to an attractive orange before they green up again in the next growing season.
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Dormant pincushion bush
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Moss patterns
In deeper soil areas November-flowering shrubs and herbs that don’t occur off the rock make a wonderful show. The most spectacular is red-flowering Kunzea baxterii with bonsai-looking contorted stems that hangs on to cracks in the rock. Larger soil areas have large Hook-leaved thryptomene/Thryptomene australis shrubs that are a mass of delicate white flowers, and Goodenia helmsii herbs with tiny white flowers.
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Hook leaved thryptomene/ Thryptomene australis
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Kunzea baxterii
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Goodenia Helmsii
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.A highlight was the beautiful but uncommon Pimelea graniticola that only occurs on granite rocks.
On the north and southern slopes where it is too steep for 4WDs (but I expect to see one in a heap there one day), you can still see the shelves and plates of sheet rock that are a feature of large granite domes.
For the geologically minded (as one should be!) these domes called plutons formed hundreds of millions of years ago from molten rock that forced its way up as geological plates were colliding and solidified some kilometres below the soil surface. As the rock above gradually eroded away and sediments were taken to the sea, these domes were exposed. The surface cracked in sheets that themselves split into jointed blocks from removal of the weight above them and weathering (exfoliation). Ice crystals formed from frost affected seepage can cause splits. More information here.

Rock sheets make a prime habitat for the fascinating Rock Dragon/Ctenophorus ornatus that nod at you before scuttling off. Alas my smartphone couldn’t get a better shot, but check out the great images on the hyperlink above.
Unfortunately the rock sheets are also greatly desired in gardens. I even have one in my garden that was left by the former owner. Keep vehicles off this rock.
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Left: Rock Dragon if you can see it Right: weathering granite profile

Elbow and African Orchids

17/11/2016

 
Greetings fellow Foxies,
The Elbow orchid Spiculaea ciliata is a remarkable plant that flowers from November to January by storing water in its fleshy stem. I recently learnt about it while perusing Narrogin Herbarium specimens, and was assured that I could find them amongst pincushion plants on Yilliminning Rock. It was beautiful on the rock after yesterday’s rainfall until the delightful discovery of a champagne cork and a condom prompted me to move away from 4WD areas to a surprising display of late season flowers in more protected places.
After a long time crawling over very prickly plants, I found a single insignificant orchid. You have to be a masochist or an orchid enthusiast to do this. Probably both.
Having said that the orchid is highly evolved and intricate. The insect-like labellum that emits a pheromone to attract male Thynnid wasps. The males normally pick up flightless females and deposit them on a flower before mating. As the labellum is attached by a weak hinge, when the male tries to lift his “mate”, it swings up and is held by the mantis-like wings (note serrations) to pollinate and collect more pollen as it struggles to free itself.
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I found South African orchids in a line of bush running the eastern side of the rock. Disa bracteata (syn Monadenia bracteata is a relatively unattractive fleshy plant, but a great survivor that can compete in pastures. It is listed as a weed.
It is thought to have introduced in sacking that covered goods unloaded at Albany.

They appear in Late October

Late season flowers

11/11/2016

 

Greetings fellow Foxies,
As the white banjine/Pimelia ciliata flowers finish, peak spring flowering is giving way to scattered flowers of other plants that have developed strategies to cope with hotter temperatures and less rainfall. These plants provide a bridge between the spring flush and summer flowering eucalypts for a range of insects that eat nectar (bees/ beetles/ flies) and the flowers (beetles/ grasshoppers/weevils and spiders that hide in the flowers for prey. As there are less flowers around, you are also more likely to get great photos of the fascinating insects, bugs and spiders that inhabit them.

By the way, if you see a khaki-clad hobo with a backpack and big tripod in Foxes Lair, don’t call the police or offer him money- it is our intrepid Dr Alan Kerrigan on the track of animal minutiae. My choice of apparel has also been criticised, but you can distinguish Alan from me because my clothes tend to be torn and paint-spattered (but completely serviceable).

You will notice that many plants have common themes for conserving water.
Small flowers and reduced, often spiny leaves and stems. Jacksonias are typical, with less noticed examples being the insignificant Jacksonia alata near the Claypit, and spiny Jacksonia furcellata (Grey Stinkbush) on grey sand over gravel near the Claypit walk.
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Jacksonia alata
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Grey stinkbush
Hairy flowers as on Pom poms/Ptilotus manglesii or foliage Calothamnus sanguineus/Silky-leaved Blood Flower), reduce evaporation.
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Pom poms
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silky-leaved blood flower
Hemiparasites such as the lush flowering Nuytsia floribunda/Christmas tree steal moisture and nutrients from adjoining plants. 
Microstilt plants reduce exposure to high soil temperatures by elevating the plant above the soil.
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Christmas tree
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Common yellow butterfly triggerplant with micro stilt roots
Plants that concentrate moisture in their stems to see them through flowering, often with waxy stems and flowers. Isotoma hypercrateriformis/ Woodbridge Poison is a very common example that is flowering now, but the best example is the later flowering Tall lobelia/Lobelia biloba.
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Woodbridge poison swollen stem
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and waxy flowers

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    Doug Sawkins is a friend of Foxes Lair 

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