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25.01.2022 A rare black galah was snapped by a photographer in Port Lincoln!

24.01.2022 "Parthenium weed spreads rapidly, is dangerous to grazing animals and reduces crop and land values. Contact with the plant or pollen can cause serious allergic reactions in people."

23.01.2022 Two years ago while in Northern Queenslands Mossman Gorge I spotted flowers growing out of a large fibrous tree trunk. The flowers were about a metre off th...e ground while the tree towered 30 metres into the canopy. I thought that maybe the flowers were from a parasite although they had no adjoining leaves. It wasnt until again going through my old photos that I investigated further. The giant tree was a Yellow Mahogany, what the botanists call a Dysoxylum parasiticum. They called it a parasiticum (parasite), as they too had been deluded. The flowers at the bottom of the trunk was a form of Cauliflory where flowers grow at the bottom of trees so that animals may take their fruit for seed dispersal. Apparently this is what a few rainforest trees do. See more

22.01.2022 "Large-scale reforestation projects such as New Zealands One Billion Trees programme are underway in many countries to help sequester carbon from the atmosphere. But there is ongoing debate about whether to prioritise native or non-native plants to fight climate change. As our recent research shows, non-native plants often grow faster compared to native plants, but they also decompose faster and this helps to accelerate the release of 150% more carbon dioxide from the soil. Our results highlight a challenging gap in our understanding of carbon cycling in newly planted or regenerating forests."

22.01.2022 Another knockout native! Did you know Black wattle (Acacia mearnsii) can grow from 6 metres up to occasionally 15 metres in height? Different parts of the tree... can be eaten, used for rope, made into adhesive and even used as a tea. The seeds in particular are prized for their high protein content. The creviced bark is a home for many insects, and black cockatoos love to strip the bark to get to borer grubs in the wood! ~ Unusually, black wattle is probably better known outside Australia, where it has been grown commercially for more than a century as far afield as South Africa, Portugal and Germany. It has since escaped cultivation and become a serious headache in these countries! Do you have Black wattle in your garden or community? by Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Landcare

22.01.2022 "It contains much information about resources for growing and exploring indigenous plants and has easily printable labels which people can put in their garden as a way to continue their learning journey."

21.01.2022 "They produce this cider, this sweet sap that ferments naturally with the yeast in the air and we get this semi-alcoholic beverage which the Tasmanian Aboriginal people used to seek out as a resource when it was running in the warmer months," she said. "When youre out and youre walking around the trees and its hot and you get this amazing smell of fermentation like youre at a cider bar, except you happen to be in the middle of the bush."

20.01.2022 "Not many Aboriginal people were employed at Woodcutters, nor were they involved in the rehabilitation and closure plan. At the end of operations, the company left 700 hectares (1,730 acres) of denuded land."

20.01.2022 "While this difference worked well for botanists for centuries, modern taxonomy has a more rigorous standard for recognising and naming genera and other taxa. More emphasis is now placed on evolutionary history and the evolutionary structure of life rather than on simple similarities and differences. In this modern view, a genus should comprise all and only the descendants of an original species. This makes sense - most people would expect that all species in Grevillea should... be evolutionarily more closely related to each other than they are to species in Hakea. Another way to say this is that genera in modern taxonomy should be whole branches of the tree of life, not partial branches that include some descendants but not others. With the powerful insights offered by DNA sequencing and phylogenetics, Hakea and Grevillea have become problematic as genera. It turns out that Grevillea is a large branch on the tree of life, and Hakea is a sub-branch within it. That is, hakeas are simply grevilleas that have developed thicker follicles. (One other genus, the small New Guinea rainforest genus Finschia, is also a sub-branch of Grevillea.)"

19.01.2022 "University of Western Australia biodiversity professor Stephen Hopper found the previously unknown pennywort while exploring Torndirrup National Park with doctoral student Megan Dilly last November."

19.01.2022 "Unlike many other banksia species, coastal banksias dont need fire to release their seed. For many Australian species, the woody fruits remain solid and sealed, and its only when fire comes through that they burn, dry, crack open and release their seed. This can happen with B. integrifolia too, but in a garden setting the fruits will mature, dry and crack open and release the seeds, which germinate readily. This makes propagating coastal banksia easy work."

18.01.2022 A pretty impressive Kingia australis. The person standing next to it is about 1.65 m. Photo: Hans Lambers.

17.01.2022 "The plant family in question is the Conospermum, commonly known as the smokebush, which has distinctive white flowers. What Mr Delnevo found was that ants were effective pollinators of the smokebush, but it was not because the ants were producing fewer pollen killing secretions, but because the plant pollen could withstand it. "We found evidence that Conospermum plants have adapted the biochemistry of their pollen grains to cope with the antimicrobial properties of the ... ants," he said." -- "While smokebush plants can also be pollinated by native bees and ideally need both for maximum reproductive output introduced honey bees have a harmful effect on the plants, as they steal the nectar but do not pollinate." See more

17.01.2022 Wattlebirds also utilise the native Hibiscus species, like H. insularis. Always plant a mix/ variety of genera and species, as just two genera in many yards can also create problems with overabundance of some bird species like noisy miners. "Overall, the native genera, banksia and grevillea were not only a more valuable source of food than the exotic genera, camellia and hibiscus, but they were also the preferred foraging sites for suburban nectarivorous birds. Whether the surplus of nectar from native shrubs is associated with territories of larger and aggressive honeyeaters competitively excluding small birds from gardens, is an important research agenda for understanding these urban bird communities."

17.01.2022 Some plants putting on a show on the Central Coast.

15.01.2022 ""Our research shows the ancestors of the Goegmulgal people of Mabuyag were engaged in complex and diverse cultivation and horticultural practices in the western Torres Strait at least 2,000 years ago," lead researcher Robert Williams said."

15.01.2022 You may know Ajuga, but do you know native Ajuga aka Australian Bugle? Its a dense ground cover with purple flowers and velvety leaves. Its great for form...ing carpets in those difficult shady sites or under trees and shrubs. Ajuga australis is a useful small plant and performs in most soil, as well as through drought and frost. It can be found in the wild in Queensland, S.A, Victoria and NSW. by @westgatebiodiversity See more

13.01.2022 "In box gum grassy woodlands, widely spaced eucalypts tower over carpets of wildflowers, lush native grasses and groves of flowering wattles. Its no wonder some early landscape paintings depicting Australian farm life are inspired by this ecosystem. But box gum grassy woodlands are critically endangered. These woodlands grow on highly productive agricultural country, from southern Queensland, along inland slopes and tablelands, into Victoria. Many are degraded or cleared... for farming. As a result, less than 5% of the woodlands remain in good condition. What remains often grows on private land such as farms, and public lands such as cemeteries or travelling stock routes. Very little is protected in public conservation reserves. And the recent drought and record breaking heat caused these woodlands to stop growing and flowering. But after Queenslands recent drought-breaking rain earlier this year, we surveyed private farmland and found many dried-out woodlands in the northernmost areas transformed into flower-filled, park-like landscapes. And landholders even came across rarely seen marsupials, such as the southern spotted-tail quoll." See more

12.01.2022 "They have even had a brush with fame with their wetland appearing in ABCs Gardening Australia magazine this month, showcasing images taken by local photographer Italo Vardaro."

11.01.2022 "Flowering plants first emerged at least 140 million years ago, according to evolutionary biologist and botanist Herve Sauquet of the Australian Institute of Botanical Science, who is also a co-author on the paper. But compared to other plant groups they were the stragglers. "Theyre the last major lineage of land plants to have started to diversify," Dr Sauquet says.... So while most flowering plant families had their origins in the Cretaceous period (this is called their stem age) back when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, we dont see these families diversify into the lineages we see today (known as their crown age) until about 66 million years ago, after the demise of the dinosaurs."

11.01.2022 And now for another native Western Australian wonder, the Caladenia macrostylis Fitzg. aka Leaping Spider Orchid! Have you witnessed one in the wild before? by gwenthewren

08.01.2022 Good morning gardeners! Spring is turning it on in WA with native Chorizema cordatum aka Heart-leaf Flame Pea! Whats blooming in your neighbourhood this week? by Chri Bredenkamp | @cherib3

08.01.2022 Carpobrotus rossii (white), a new addition to the garden. Never think its common name, Pigface, does it justice! #Australiannativeplants #aussieplants #beautifu...lnatives #gardenlovers #gardeningwithnatives #saveourflora #grownatives #australianflora #habitatgarden #birdattracting #natureswonders #landscapes #landscapelover #plantlover #gardening #carpobrotus, pigface See more

07.01.2022 Ptilotus, lovely flower from WA #australiannativeplants #aussieplants #beautifulnatives #gardenlovers #gardeningwithnatives #saveourflora #gr...ownatives #australianflora #habitatgarden #birdattracting #plantlover #gardening #sustainableplants #sustainablenativeplants #nativeflowers #ptilotus See more

06.01.2022 Another knockout native is Burchardia umbellata or milkmaids This perennial lily with white and pink flowers is native to most of Australia. Hard to find i...n nurseries, it prefers moist and well drained soil, and makes a nice spring display in a pot. It was an important food source for indigenous Australians; the carrot-like tubers are high in starch and were eaten raw or roasted! by Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Landcare See more

05.01.2022 Fasciating, even! :D

05.01.2022 "South-East Queenslands giant stinging tree and its northern cousin, the Gympie-Gympie stinging tree are both members of the nettle family and are covered in needle-like hairs filled with toxins."

04.01.2022 WA ORCHIDS IN BLOOM There are at least 18 orchid species flowering now in the Stirling Range National Park in the states Great Southern region. Check out ...this beautiful collage of pictures of the blooms by orchid lover and explorer Terry Dunham. Do you recognise any of these species? Can you help us identify them all? Terry Dunham via The Wildflower Society of Western Australia (Inc.).

04.01.2022 Reduction in insect biodiversity is but one aspect of gardens that use mostly exotic species. Hence this group encourages members to be responsible gardeners and plant mostly native species, including many locally native species, in their gardens. This includes native species that are edible for us as well as wildlife, of course.

01.01.2022 Its almost wildflower season WA... whos keen for a road trip? How beautiful?! These stunning shots were captured at Coalseam Conservation Park, north of M...ingenew. Local photographer Nature By Nathan said fields of daisies are blooming in the Midwest. "August is when they are usually at their best," he said. Explore Parks WA said, "not only is it the place to see wildflowers, its a place with 250 million years of geological history." "Youll find marine fossils embedded in the banks of the Irwin River and exposed seams of coal, sandstones and siltstones in the cliff faces," Explore Parks WA said. Show us your best wildflower blooms Bonus points if you can tell us where you found them.

01.01.2022 The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly on infertile soils. The family comprises abou...t 4250 known species in 124 genera, making it the 14th most species-rich family of flowering plants. Overall species richness increases nearer the Equator, with the highest species numbers concentrated in Colombia and Ecuador between 1000 m and 3000 m. Australia hosts just 600 endemic species, but across 44 genera. FloraBase lists 18 genera in this family. See more

01.01.2022 BLOOMING WREATH FLOWERS The Mullewa Visitor Centre is very happy to report the iconic wreath flowers are now blooming. "They were a bit slower this year bec...ause weve had a really cold winter but theres still hundreds out there and they look really good," Holly Freeman from the Community Resource Centre said. "We get them out at the Pindar-Beringara Rd but we do encourage people if theyre coming out to Mullewa to see them pop into the visitor centre first and well give you a map and really good directions where to find them." Mullewa Visitor Centre