chrisjonkers's Favorites

A rather disappointing find. A new weed for this conservation property and possibly the first observation on iNat for the Greater Blue Mountains area. Going over old pictures of the dam, it's possible it first appeared last year but just a few plants. This time extensive patches (many plants) are around much of the dam (see location pics). In the short time available I pulled out 90+% of the plants (only tiny ones left) and placed in a large pile in grassland (thickly matted) not far from dam. Hoping any further development of pulled plants has less effect there as this weed prefers bare ground. Don't know why it's appeared now and not seen before last year or this year. Haven't noticed this weed elsewhere on the property. They were quite easy to pull out as recent rain. Used gloves but noted that very sticky to the touch. And yes, they stink! Like kerosene perhaps?

Found in a coastal heath monitoring plot on Endeavour Moor and identified as H. dispar by the 2 hairy carpels with 7 stamens on one side and 1 on the other. One of several entities in NSW far south coast heaths formerly lumped under H. riparia.

I was mystified about this one, other than being a legume. Not cultivated. Growing wild in an area of revegetated farmland/natural woodland and open forest (now an ungrazed conservation property). Never seen it before, nor recall seeing it since (photos were casual amidst looking for birds). Must be very uncommon. (Note that botanist surveys of this property 2006-2008 did not find it. But overall conclusion was a high diversity of plants at this site.) Thanks Chris for the ID (see below). Only have a rough idea of where it was located but shall keep an eye out generally around this property.

Lots of plants in and around this montane bog at 1030m elevation, which was burnt in 2020. Some plants were in good health, e.g. 1st & 4th photos, but some show signs of being afflicted by Phytophthora such as the yellowing plant with very few flowers in the 2nd photo and the dead plant in the 3rd photo. There was other Phytophthora evidence on this bog, such as yellowing and dead Banksia seedlings, although also plenty of healthy ones.

Small-leaved Gum I would have thought - Kybean Gum is surely E. kybeanensis! This bog at 910m elevation was largely burnt in the 2020 fires, but some of the "islands" of E. parvula in mid-bog were unburnt. The 1st 3 photos are of a poorly resprouting plant at slightly lower elevation relative to the bog, so with more waterlogging. The next 3 are of more vigorously resprouting plants on a slightly higher island (the difference is height probably being less than 30cm) and the last 2 are of unburnt plants, all within 100m or so of each other. At 3 years post-fire there is no sign of budding yet, though some of the leaf buds do look superficially like flower buds (6th photo).

Only 1 or 2 plants in heath on old sand dunes. I have had a previous HIbbertia specimen from this location ID'd by Hellmut Toelken at H. calycina, but using his 2012 paper (J. Adelaide Bot Gard. 25) this one seems to me to key to stricta, as I could find no simple hairs on it anywhere, which it needs to key to calycina. It fits the description of stricta too, with 6 or 7 stamens of which one is longer, 2 hairy carpels and the leaf underside completely concealed by the revolute margins and swollen midrib. @thammer I have specimens if they are needed.

Very abundant and flowering in Allocasuarina nana heath on arkose sandstone at c. 1230m elevation, burnt in Jan 2020. Despite being on very poor skeletal soil, the typical habitat of S. graminifolium, these plants are S. armeria due to the leaf being c. 5mm wide and with no sign of marginal teeth or revolute margins.

A patch of healthy plants close to the base of a large eucalypt, which may have been helping to dry out the soil and ameliorate the impacts of phytophthora, present at this site. Plants were often notably healthier and more floriferous in the drier areas around trees or further up-slope out of the bog.

Photo 5 shows the smaller inflorescence with fewer and smaller overlapping bracts that distinguish this species from the co-occurring P. capitellata. The very large stipules also help. Leaf shape, size and silky hairy underside are very similar in the two species.

Growing in a seepage area above a small drainage line, burnt in Jan 2020; hundreds if not thousands of plants. Mostly prostrate in habit, but able to get up to 30 or 40cm with another plant to lean on, as in the 1st photo.