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Did You Know? Suzanne Jones

We gained a new family member recently – a cat. My 4 year old grand-daughter was fascinated, then asked me, "Why does

Belle have stripes in her eyes?" Why indeed? Yes, pupils come in many different shapes, in different animals, but why?

A search of the internet told me that a pupil is a hole located in the centre of the iris of the eye, allowing light to hit the retina. It

appears black because light rays entering it, are absorbed around it. There are many different, fascinating shapes of pupils in

various animals, but, even just looking at one family alone, the cat family – while domestic cats have vertical slit pupils, the

Siberian tiger has circular pupils and the Eurasian lynx is in between. Why??

Some research indicates that predatory animals that ambush their prey (such as cats and foxes) have vertical slit pupils, while

predatory animals (such as dogs and wolves) which don't ambush, but hunt in packs, have circular pupils. Herbivores that are

preyed upon, have horizontal pupils, which give them a better view of the area around them.

Did you know that the remarkable pupils in the eyes of horses and sheep always remain horizontally aligned to the ground, even

when the animals bend their heads to eat?

Quiz Questions

Suzanne Jones

Botany: What is the floral emblem of the Northern

Territory?

Wildlife: The clearing of what species of plant is seen as

a threat to the sugar glider?

General: Which year was the $100 note introduced?

Answers at the end of this newsletter

Contents …

Did You Know? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Quiz Questions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

What Am I? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2

Outback Travels – Part 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2

Local Plants ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7

Evening with Phillip Johnson -------------------------------------------------------------- 8

Wildlife in Native Gardens – Long legged fly --------------------------------------- 10

What Am I - Answer ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 11

Plants Flowering Lately – Eremophila glabra --------------------------------------- 12

Diary Dates ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13

Answers to Quiz Questions -------------------------------------------------------------- 13

Australian Native Plants Society

East Gippsland Inc

Reg. No. A0016046J

Issue 144 April 2018

Website: www.apsvic.org.au Email: anpseg@gmail.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ANPSEG/?ref=bookmarks

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What Am I? Suzanne Jones

How closely do you look at your flowers? Do you know the genus or, better still, the species of the plant in this

photo? Answer at the end of this newsletter.

Outback Travels – Part 2 Graeme and Jan Donnan

Coward Springs is a magical place to camp. Once a station on the original Ghan line (built in 1888 - now featuring a

small museum) it is now a veritable oasis - complete with date palms. It features a warm water pool fed by a

'mound spring' one of the many outlets of the Great Artesian Basin - a feature of the inland.

Whilst the amenities are fairly basic for camping - but adequate - the ubiquitous athel pine trees provide good shady

camp sites. As with all outback areas the flies can be bad (some would say "horrendous" but fortunately this time

there were very few).

Between Coward Springs and the iconic William Creek we identified, among others, Crotalaria eremaea (Rattlepod),

Abutilon leucopetalum (Desert Chinese Lantern). Trichodesma zeylanican (Camel Bush), Convolvulus remotis

(Common Bindweed) and Wahlenbergia sp.

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Dry creek bed between Coward Springs and Oodnadatta Crotalaria eremaea 'Rattlepod'

Still following the original Ghan railway line the next stop was Algebuckina. Here we found Arabidella glaucescens

(Cress). Algebuckina is the crossing of the Neales River floodplains. The old steel lattice railway bridge, which is

still standing, is 570 metres long - until recently the longest in South Australia. Whilst the river only flows

infrequently, water holes generally persist - always being a great place to go from Oodnadatta for a day out.

Algebuckina - Old Ghan bridge (photo taken 2012) Arabidella glaucescens (photo taken 2012)

Just 60kms to Oodnadatta and the gibber plains continue,

interspersed with dry creek beds and an occasional sand

dune. What plant life there is, is covered in dust and so

whilst we find this landscape fascinating you wouldn't go

there purely for the plant life - except after a good rain,

at the right time.

Nevertheless, it's always exciting to be back in this

environment.

Oodnadatta (Aboriginal for "Blossom of the mulga') became

the rail head in 1890 before the line was extended to Alice

Springs in 1929.

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Unfortunately, the line always suffered washaways whenever there was a reasonable amount of rain and so the

track was realigned much further to the west to avoid the flood plains. As a consequence, the line through

Oodnadatta was closed in 1982. It was thought it would be the demise of the town however with a population of

over 200 it's now significantly bigger than when we lived there – attributed to the influx of many more indigenous

people from outlying cattle stations.

Of course, the promotion given the town (and indeed, the whole area), by the Plate's of the Pink Roadhouse fame

really put the town on the tourism map. The many pink signs along roads etc., all the work of Adam and Lynnie, are

now iconic and a lasting legacy to Adam who tragically died as he competed in a motor rally in 2012.

At Oodnadatta, our favourite spots are the clay-pans, sand dunes, 6 Mile Creek track and Hookey's Hole - all good to

find plants, irrespective of the season. This time we re-acquainted with favourites Frankenia serpyllifolia, Grevillea

nematophylla (not in flower), Eremophila macdonnellii and E. longifolia: also Hibiscus krichauffianus and Minuria

denticulata. At other times our finds have included Streptoglossa liatroides, Goodenia cycloptera, Polycalymma

stuartii and Swainsona vilosa.

Eremophila macdonnellii (photo taken 2012) Polycalymma stuartii (photo taken 2012)

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Frankenia serpyllifolia (photo taken 2012)

Archaringa Station, a cattle station 98kms WSW from Oodnadatta, was our next camp. The total area of the station

covers 2,745 square kilometres, accommodating up to 2,000 cattle in a good season. Whilst the property is mostly

gibber plains there is a stark relief to the topography with the sudden emergence of the beautiful hills, just 10kms

(albeit fairly severe corrugations) from the homestead - known these days as the 'Painted Desert'.

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Arckaringa Hills ‘Painted Desert’

We did find Eremophila rotundifolia along the way but this year the plant life was extremely poor: normally

Ptilotus, of various species, is very prominent. The beauty of the hills, formed during 80 million years of erosion,

are however the primary reason for visiting these parts. The layered colours ranging from yellows, oranges, reds

and browns are breathtaking - especially seen at the better times of the day. Dawn is the best!

So far in our journey the plant life has been disappointing. Granted, through these parts it's never prolific like in

Western Australia, but there is always something interesting to be found. In any case, the solitude which the

outback provides is just magic.

Next episode, we will drive north to Daly Waters before traversing the dirt/gravel Buchanan Highway towards

Kununurra.

See Part 3 of Graeme and Jan Donnan's 'Outback Travels' in our June 2018 newsletter.

Eremophila rotundifolia

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Local Plants Suzanne Jones

Arthropodium milleflorum

Also known as the Pale Vanilla Lily,

Arthropodium milleflorum is a tufting plant with

strappy linear leaves.

Its small white to pale mauve flowers appear in

late spring to summer on tall branching stems.

It may die back to rootstock during the

summer, but will appear again in the autumn.

It prefers moist, well drained soils in semi shade.

Arthropodium strictum

The Chocolate lily is also a perennial tufting plant with linear leaves, flowering mostly in spring. It has purple or

mauve flowers which are scented like chocolate, hence the common name. Like the Pale Vanilla Lily, it also

prefers moist, well drained soils, but in either sun or semi-shade. Plants will die back to tubers during dry summers,

but will re-shoot again in the autumn. Chocolate lilies look most effective when planted in groups.

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Evening with Phillip Johnson Suzanne Jones

Instead of a meeting on March 13th, we enjoyed a presentation by Phillip Johnson, of 'Phillip Johnson Landscapes'.

This presentation was held at a wonderful venue, the Riviera Christian Centre in Bairnsdale. Some of our very talented

members created some magnificent flower displays to enhance the stage for Phillip's talk.

Phillip's book, "Connected" was available for sale. Also, our members had a great display of native plants for sale. The sale

of raffle tickets helped towards recouping the cost of the evening, with superb prizes being donated.

Many members put time and effort into making the evening the success it was.

It is estimated that there were about ninety people in attendance (seventy signed in, but there were people that did not

sign). I found it very difficult to get good photos because of the lack of light, but, will enclose a few here as a memory of the

occasion.

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Phillip's talk was in two parts. Firstly, he spoke about the landscapes that he has created, accompanied by photos. He

adores water in the garden and spoke about drainage and how to use it to your advantage. He said that he has built 2,500

billabongs around Australia and not one has dried up.

Many of his created landscapes contained many rocks and even waterfalls of various heights. He showed how even a very

small garden can be made into a peaceful retreat by landscaping. Phillip is an enthusiastic speaker and I am sure that all

present thoroughly enjoyed his presentation.

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The second part of Phillip's talk was about the Chelsea Flower Show, which is so popular that tickets to it sell out six months

before the show. To compete in the Chelsea Flower Show, you are rivaling against the very best. It was fascinating to see

photos of the effort and the number of people whose involvement went into creating Phillip Johnson's exhibition for the show.

Wonderful to see the excitement when they won.

Phillip also mentioned his new Community Project, which is '5,000 Poppies'. These are handmade, knitted or crocheted

poppies. President Cliff Ireland then encouraged everyone to ask questions. Following questions, Cliff presented Phillip with

many thank-you gifts from our group.

The raffle was then drawn and a lucky non-member won third prize – the Bush Tucker plant pack donated by Woolenook

Nursery. Ann Barker won second prize – an attractive planted Terrarium created by 'Benita Tscharke Boutique Floral Design'.

And a very excited Peta Hose won first prize – a beautiful framed photo of a flowering eucalypt, donated by Norm Neillson.

As it was Phillip and Sarah Johnson's wedding anniversary, Cliff presented them with a lovely posy of flowers, put together by

member Ann Barker, our talented floral art creator. Everyone was then invited to partake in the supper that all the members

had so kindly provided. It was an enjoyable evening and so good that our little group was able to host a guest speaker of such

international acclaim.

Wildlife in Native Gardens – Long legged fly Suzanne Jones

Graeme called me one summer’s day to take some photos of an unusual flying insect that was on the verandah. It was so

small that I thought it was just a mosquito, but the photos revealed otherwise. It was a long legged fly, which is of the family

Dolichopodidae. There are about 400 described species of long legged flies in Australia. They are small to medium sized flies

with a brilliant metallic green to bronze body colour and very long slender legs. All adult long legged flies are predators and

feed on other soft bodied insects such as aphids or larvae. A few also feed on nectar and pollen, but this is unusual.

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The larvae of almost all long legged fly species also predate on other insects. Long legged flies are usually found on low,

moist foliage. This particular fly that I photographed is, I think, a species of Austrosciapus, which occurs throughout eastern

Australia and is often found in city parks and gardens. It is very pretty. So, before you squash that 'mosquito' in the garden,

(like my son did recently) take a second look to make sure it isn't a beautiful, beneficial, long legged fly.

Answer: What Am I?

The wildflower is Arthropodium milleflorum. See photo below of many of these dainty lilies flowering together.

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Plants Flowering Lately – Eremophila glabra Suzanne Jones

Eremophila glabra is extremely variable and there are many forms

available from nurseries. It is known as the Common Emu-bush and is a

dwarf to small shrub.

The pictured plant is about 1.2m high and is growing in a very dry place

on the sunny, north side of large eucalypt trees.

We see it opposite our kitchen window and every day, the plant is

visited by honeyeater birds. The plant seems to have some flowers on

it all year.

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Diary Dates

Tuesday, 10th April 2018

7:30pm: General Meeting – Guest Speaker Jeanne Dunne, talking on native orchids.

Tuesday, 8th May 2018

7:30pm: General Meeting – to be advised.

General Meetings are held at Noweyung, Goold Street, Bairnsdale, from 7.30pm to approximately 9.30pm.

General Meetings are always on the second Tuesday of each month, with two exceptions - January and December. There is no General Meeting in January and the General Meeting in December is on the first Tuesday of the month.

Answers to Quiz Questions

Suzanne Jones

Botany: Sturts Desert Rose

Wildlife: Acacia species

General: 1984

If anyone has any articles for future

newsletters, could you please send

them to jonesn@westnet.com.au or

bring them to a general meeting

Thank you!

Jean’s Identification Hint: Sedges have edges, rushes are round.