Field work in southern Queensland, part 3: Barakula State Forest

The area north to us, and in particular Barakula State Forest, seems to have received more rain than the drought-stricken areas we visited in the first two days. Grasses are greener, more flowers were out, and we were considerably more successful in finding the species we were after.

Typical view in Barakula State Forest: seemingly never-ending straight roads.

Brunonia australis (Goodeniaceae); I had previously seen it near Alice Springs in the arid zone and was consequently a bit surprised that it grows here in a forest.

This epiphytic orchid was only in reach of my camera because the tree it grows on had fallen over. Cymbidium canaliculatum (Orchidaceae), as far as the photograph allows identification.

As mentioned in the previous post, the cactus moth that killed off most of the Opuntia infestations is understandably a big thing in this area. We drove past a memorial hall dedicated to this species of insect.

Field work in southern Queensland, part 2: Interesting invasives

Australia surely has its fair share of introduced weeds and invasive plants. On this trip I have already seen a few that I had only heard of but not seen before, and others that are much more abundant here than further south.

Opuntia is one of the textbook cases of an economically promising plant turned into horrible invasive weed but also of biological control done well. I remember even as a teenager seeing a documentary that showed first near-monocultures of Opuntia cacti covering the Australian landscape and then the devastation the biological control agent - a moth - caused in the populations of the cactus after it was released. There are memorials in this area celebrating the defeat of the cactus and the efforts of the moth. Wikipedia has a nice little entry on the issue.

Above the flower of a low-growing specimen. Apparently numerous species of the genus had been introduced, so I am not sure which one this is.

One of the plants I had read about but not seen before is Hypochaeris microcephala (Asteraceae), one of several weedy species of its genus introduced to Australia, but the only white-flowered one.

Finally, a Bryophyllum (Crassulaceae). We saw it frequently along roadsides, but most of the plants were past flowering and presented merely shrivelled, blackish stems. I assume this species was introduced deliberately as an ornamental.

Field work in southern Queensland part 1: Mistletoe mania

Currently doing field work in southern Queensland. We are primarily trying to find a certain rare species, but today we were not yet lucky. Part of the problem may be that the area is quite dry at the moment, but then again lots of other plants are out and in bloom, so maybe that is not the main issue. Particularly amazing was to me how many different species of mistletoes we have seen in a single day. Unfortunately I do not know any of the names yet, but some of them are quite pretty, especially considering the unspectacular Viscum album we had in Germany.

This one parasitised on an Acacia...

...as did this green-flowered one here.

Certainly the most stunning species we found first on a Eucalyptus, but it did not seem to be very host-specific.

Finally, a single Allocasuarina tree had two species of mistletoes on it, of which I only show the weird leafless one. The other was similar to the first picture but with smaller flowers and long, slender leaves.

Field trip to Kioloa, last day

Back home after a weekend trip to the coast with ANU students.

In the morning we spent some time at the beach front of ANU's Kioloa Coastal Campus, discussing grasses, saltbushes, Myoporum, Banksia and Pittosporum.

On the way back we had an extended stop at Misty Mountain Road in Monga National Park, one of my favourite national parks in the area. We explored a bit of sclerophyll forest with diverse heath-like understorey.

One of the plants there was this rather tiny Lomandra. The tufts of this monocot looked superficially like grass, and the few flowering stems were well hidden. The more familiar representatives of Lomandra, those that are used as low maintenance ornamentals, are considerably larger.

Although not part of the plant groups that I am usually keen of, I find Tetratheca (Elaeocarpaceae) really attractive. They also make very nice herbarium specimens, drying well and staying very colourful. Above is T. thymifolia with its characteristic whorled leaves and long, non-glandular hairs on the stem.

I also got really nice pictures of a female cycad with ripe seeds, but that is worth a separate post.

Field trip to Kioloa

After the recent reconnaissance trip to the Australian National University's Kiola Coastal Campus, I am currently on the student field trip that we were then preparing for.

The weather is perfect for bush walking as well as photographing. The above picture shows part of the Coastal Campus with several of the cottages in the background that are used for accommodation, teaching and research.

Today we spent most of the day in the forested two thirds of the campus. Above a picture taken in the rainforest part. The rest of the day was then spent identifying plants and preparing student talks.

Baeckea virgata (Myrtaceae), a little tea tree relative. Similar to Leptospermum (the proper tea tree genus) but with smaller flowers and fruits.

Hakea (Proteaceae) "pods", really follicles, with an insect's egg casket cunningly hidden on them; note how the colour blends in nicely. Probably the egg casket is a praying mantis' ootheca. This was discovered by one of the students.

Australian Health and Safety procedures: This picture shows an evacuation plan for a cottage with four rooms, a single straight corridor and an exit at either end. I strongly suspect that if I were too panicked or confused to figure out on my own how to flee from such a simple building I would certainly be too confused to read the plan.

Also, "coloured chopping boards for your health and safety". Truly I have never seen something like this before, and one immediately wonders how the people fifty years ago (or 5,000 years ago) managed without colour coded chopping boards.