Spring holidays 2017, final part 5

And we are back. Today we returned to Canberra passing through, among other things, the Putty Road between Wollemi and Yengo National Parks. It is a very nice, forested landscape, although it would be even better if there were one or two official lookouts in the southern part.

The above gives an impression of the road as seen from a little resting area along the way, in this case still very much towards the northern end.

About 40% or so of the way towards the south there is a locality called half-way house that was apparently once a cafe and petrol station. Now there is only a stall that sells coffee, soft drinks and snacks as well as metal and wood sculptures, thus the large statue above. I got a coffee.

Slightly before that spot we saw Conospermum taxifolium (Proteaceae) along the way. Their flowers are a bit different from the 'usual' Proteaceae that people are familiar with, such as Banksia or Grevillea. In Western Australia this genus is a striking part of the landscape in the form of the smoke-bushes, but the species here in New South Wales are less conspicuous.

Because this post does not have enough plants yet I am returning to one we saw at the beginning of the trip. It is among numerous photos that I did not upload because I was uncertain about the identification, but now I am reasonably optimistic that this is Darwinia procera (Myrtaceae), a rare and very localised species.

Spring holidays 2017, part 4

Yesterday and today we continued to explore Myall Lakes National Park and its surroundings.

The village of Hawks Nest is very touristic, and so it is perhaps not a surprise that it has a spring flower walk that is recommended to tourists. And indeed there are masses of flannel flowers, but also other interesting plants.

At the other end of the National Park we today visited the lighthouse at Sugarloaf Point. Shown here is the view towards Seal Rocks, which unfortunately wrecked many ships even after the lighthouse was built, apparently due to prevailing wind conditions during one part of the year.

Botanically today's topic is climbers. Our first one is Kennedia rubicunda (Fabaceae), with surprisingly large red flowers.

I am reasonably certain that this would have to be Geitonoplesium cymosum (Smilaceae), a climbing monocot. The field guide calls it 'scrambling lily'.

Finally, the native passionflower Passiflora herbertiana (Passifloraceae) had been teasing us for a few days now, always there but never in flower. Today we finally found it in bloom, and that made my day!

Oops. Upon examination of the Flora of NSW key to Passiflora it turns out that this is introduced Passiflora subpeltata from Brazil, as it has large, leafy stipules. Also the Flora says that native P. herbertiana is red, which is really interesting because Fairley & Moore's Native Plants of the Sydney Region, which serves as my quick reference in the field during this trip, shows it as white.

Either way the one we saw is not native. Still, passionflowers are just something else, and they remind me of past field work in the Andes.

Spring holidays 2017, part 3

We spent half the day at the beach and then the rest exploring Myall Lakes National Park. We saw lots of plants, but as I haven't had the time to check many identifications I will only post two. They are nice ones though:

Actinotus helianthi (Apiaceae) is the famous flannel-flower. The petaloid bracts around the flower-heads are felt-like, thus the English name. Many people wrongly believe it to be a member of the daisy family, but it belongs to the family of parsley and fennel.

The second one makes me very happy indeed. I had heard of the flying duck orchid (Caleana major, Orchidaceae) and seen photos, but now I have seen it in the flesh, as it were. Surely one of the weirdest-looking orchids on a continent that has many weird-looking ones.

Spring holidays 2017, part 2

Well look at that, holiday parks have free Wifi now...

Today we arrived at the place where we planned to pitch our tent, Hawks Nest just at the south end of Myall Lakes National Park. On the way we spent a bit of time in Brisbane Water National Park, which of course is nowhere near Brisbane but instead just out of Sydney.

But first we had to get out of Sydney, and here it seems to me that the road engineers there might want to look into the concept of a city highway that moves travelers through the area with a minimum amount of fuss. Think a straight road with a turn-off every few kilometers instead of a winding nightmare leading right past houses and shops and interrupted by traffic lights every few meters.

Ah well, think of the flowers.

The first decent stop out of Sydney was at Moonie Moonie Creek, which I think actually deserves a promotion to "river" here.

And our last longer stop was at Girrakool, a resting area with several great walks. This photo above shows a place where one can get down to the pools and creeks, but there are also lookouts across the valley and longer loop walks.

Now for the plants. Myoporum acuminatum (Scrophulariaceae maybe? It changes), a shrub at the edge of a swamp near Moonie Moonie Creek.

There were lots of interesting plants on the shallower soils at Girrakool. Here what I take to be Kunzea capitata (Myrtaceae). It is not the plant's fault that it reminds me of Otto Kuntze, but unfortunately it does.

Right next to it we saw Grevillea speciosa (Proteaceae). There are of course lots of Proteaceae here, but there are few where I am as sure about the identification as with these characteristic leaves.

Finally, Mirbelia rubiifolia (Fabaceae), a very cute little pea-flowered legume.

Spring holidays 2017, part 1

Family camping trip over the spring school holidays! Having previously camped in what is parochially called the "South Coast" (in New South Wales Sydney is the navel of the world, so it does not matter that the coast is on the east of the landmass) and visited the New England area further north we decided to go for the area just north of Sydney this time.

Today, however, we only made it as far as the south of Sydney, taking it slow and seeing things on the way. The main attraction here is Royal National Park, which my wife had seen fifteen years ago but my daughter and I have now seen for the first time.

The above is the view from Bald Hill lookout, as we were coming into Royal National Park from the south, via Wollongong.

We also saw some tall sklerophyll forests, but like most of south-eastern Australia this area has seen too little rain this year, and much of the vegetation was too dry. The heath looked much better. This species is Isopogon anemonifolius (Proteaceae).

Another Proteaceae, we think it is probably Grevillea oleoides given its very long and slender flowers and likewise long and slender leaves.

Again we are not entirely sure, but this may be Lasiopetalum parvifolium (Sterculiaceae); the field guide is not entirely clear but it looks as if the other species of that genus that are in the area and have similar leaves may differ in having hairs also on the inside of the sepals. It is a small shrub that I photographed in a very dark spot using the tripod.

And this is where we got out of Royal National Park, Bungoona lookout at its northern end.

As we are going camping I will presumably not be able to post anything else until Friday at the earliest, but then I hope to be able to upload a bunch more plant and landscape photographs.

Three plants near Wollongong

After a work meeting in Wollongong we made a short stop on the way back, just enough time to have a look at some plants that are flowering.

Starting with the least interesting, because invasive: Ageratina adenophora (Asteraceae), an introduced weed that was doing very well indeed all along the roadsides.

According to colleagues this is Eriostemon (Philotheca?) australasius (Rutaceae). The flowers are white; books usually show them as pink, but maybe the difference has something to do with this plant growing in shade. Very pretty, at any rate.

And finally we saw this even prettier orchid. After consulting Native Plants of the Sydney Region I presume it is Thelymitra ixioides, but orchids are not really my specialty.

Some quick, handy references

I just read that an Australian Senator called Fierravanti-Wells said the following:

I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman ... coming together in one unique union. That is what it has been for every culture, in every ethnicity, in every faith in every corner of the world for thousands and thousands of years.

Suggested reading:

• Wikipedia entry on polygamy
• Wikipedia entry on polyandry
• Wikipedia entry on the history of same-sex unions

The primary literature is cited in those entries. Also:

• Skeptic's Annotated Bible entry on what the Bible says about polygamy

It would appear that the premise of this particular argument is demonstrably false. It would further appear that it is also not a logically valid argument, regardless of the truth or falseness of its premise:

• Logical Fallacies > Fallacies of Relevance > Irrelevant Appeals > Appeal to Antiquity / Tradition