Australian Native Plants at the ANBG Canberra

[Paul T]

Gerd,

I had wondered whether it was, but not finding an actual name tag I was unwilling to put a name to it.  I'll try to look into it further.

Shelagh,

The best I could do is to try to find out the name of it so that you can look for seed.  Seed cannot be collected from the ANBG for private purposes unfortunately.  Given it's size at present I am sure it would grow in a 36 inch pot, but until I find out a name I could not give you any info on how to get hold of seed.  Even with a name the odds are pretty small that you'd be able to track it down, as most of the stuff in the Gardens was originally wild collected and this plant may have been around for quite a few years.

Luit and Maggi,

Not sure what I can really give you as cultural information.  I am just posting pictures that I take for myself, not speaking on behalf of the ANBG or anything like that.  I will see what I can do.

[Paul T]

OK, continuing on to March pictures........  Again, not that many pics for the month....



Firstly, another picture of the foggers, this one with the mist billowing out of the rainforest and across the internal road.  Depending on the conditions at the time and which direction any breeze is blowing, the effects can be very cool. 






This is Acacia brachystachya which, unlike traditional wattles, has elongated flowerheads instead of the usual spherical flowerheads.  I've included a pic of the plant (about 2.5m tall, perhaps a bit more), it's flowers (each head is about 3cm long) and the seedpods on the shrub at the same time.  A rather nice species and one I think would look rather good in a garden situation.




This is Acacia implexa, something somewhat different to the last one.  I don't think this plant has reached maturity as yet, but it is probably around 7 or 8 metres tall at this stage (I didn't climb up to check.  ).  The flowers are a creamy white.  So nice to see both these wattles flowering in late summer.  Apparently there are Acacias that flower in every month of the year, so you could set up a collection where there was always one in flower in your garden.




It was a bit rainy the day I took these pics of Acronychia imperforata, and I forgot to take a picture of the whole plant.  From memory it was about 3.5 to 4m tall, growing on the rainforest verge.  It is VERY attractant to birds, bees and butterflies, with masses of them about in sunny weather.  There's obviously quite a bit of nectar in there for them to enjoy.  Each flower is only about 1cm wide, but the combined effect was that it was covered in flowers.

[Paul T]

Auranticarpa rhombifolia is a member of the Pittosporum family.  I've never managed to notice it flowering (but I don't often get up to that area of the ANBG anyway), but you can't miss it when the berries are on it.  The orange just glows, particularly if a shaft of sunlight is falling on the tree.  It's about 6 or 7m tall I think.






This is a prostrate form Banksia integrifolia.  There are a number of these lining the road outside the main entrance to the ANBG and they're looking brilliant right now.  This plant is probably 1.3m high, perhaps a bit more, and 2.5m wide or more.  Very, very nice.  I've shown a pic of the buds as well as one with the flowers fully open, just to show the difference between them.  Each have their own charm (and I am sure the honeyeaters prefer the second.  )




Banksia 'Stumpy Gold' is a low growing variety.  This one is also outside the main entrance, and looking stunning right now.  It is perhaps 1.5m wide, maybe a bit less.  Very nice.

And while we're on the Proteaceae family.......






I've posted pics of Grevillea nudiflora here before, but it has been flowering beautifully and I couldn't resist posting pics again.  Such a gorgeous ground cover.  I purchased one back in Spring at a nursery a couple of hours north of here in a 6 inch pot, potted it up into a tall and relatively thin pot and placed it in my garden.  It is already 4 feet across and I am having to rethink where I have it because it is growing so quickly.  No flowers on mine as yet, but I get to see the flowers right at the main entrance at the ANBG, so I know what will happen on mine at some point hopefully.  Such a beautiful flower, particularly in closeup where you can see the fine furriness of the flowers.

Added 16 April..... I've now updated the name of the prostrate Banksia integrifolia that I couldn't recall when I originally posted the images.

[Paul T]

I took this picture of a perfect Dicksonia antarctica in early March to capture at it's peak.  In autumn (and they've already started into it) the Crimson Rosellas come and start nipping off bits of the fronds, for reasons I am still unsure of.  They do it in my home garden as well, but always only in autumn.  This is therefore the "before shot" in the Rosella makeover programme.    Even looking at it now I can see there had already been some nibbling, on the frond at the top, just to the left (at about 11 O'Clock on a clock face), which is missing a few pinnae in that area.


And a couple of weeks later here are some "Rosellas in the Mist".  The dark spots in the fog are examples of what happens when you try to zoom in on my old camera now..... you get dust spots appearing in the image.   I can normally edit these out selectively with cropping, but in this case I have left them in as the Rosellas in the mist pic is quite cool.    Not quite as impressive as the old "Gorillas in the Mist". 


And a better shot of them hoeing into the fronds.  This is not the same fern, but they've started into that one too.  I'll post a pic again in a few weeks of the results.  Not quite the same beautiful symmetry and perfection to it by then (it already is looking somewhat ragged in early April.


I have taken some pics of a couple of Solanum to show some of the rather wicked little adaptations they have in the thorn/spines department.  This one is Solanum brownii, with a nice little selection of armament.




And this one I don't have a name for, but it appears to be another Solanum sp..  It is definitely packing more weaponry. 

[Lori S.]

Fascinating plants!  (Our only exposure, otherwise, to the plants of Australia, is at the florist!  Must be a huge industry there?)

[Paul T]

Lori,

I think a lot of the Aussie native flowers you see in florists are not grown here in Aus, but rather are grown overseas.  Some would come from Aus, but if they are popular I would doubt that someone hasn't jumped on a bandwagon somewhere.  I can recall seeing a program on TV at some point which was showing our native flowers being grown heavily in a particular country, but no recollection of which one it was. 

Also, for those who may be interested.... I've added the name of the Banksia at the front entrance to that particular posting.  It is a prostrate form of Banksia integrifolia.  It is one of the largest of the Banksias normally, but this is a prostrate form of it.

Hopefully should have some more pics posted within the next couple of days.

[jubert123]

                    Would you like to enumerate the different plant in Australia and their specifications?

_________________

[Paul T]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking?  This topic has been posting pictures of Australian Plants and trying to give information about them as I do.  I'm not sure exactly what else you're wanting?

[Paul T]

Sorry that it took a week, rather than a couple of days, but.......

Here are some pics from early April....






This tiny shrub (only a few inches tall, and about 35cm wide) is Astroloma foliosum.  Each flower is about 2.5cm long.  I would imagine that these would work well if mass planted as a groundcover in ideal conditions.




Something a little different in colouration to those I have shown you before is Banksia ericifolia 'Red Clusters'.  This is distinctly more of a reddish than orange colour, glowing beautifully.  The flowerhead is probably about 18cm high, with the plant in the picture being about 4.5m tall.




This is a Banksia there was no species name for.  It was about 3.6m high by 4m wide, perhaps a bit more.  Very, very nice as it is growing by itself so it shows up beautifully.






This is Bursaria spinosa ssp spinosa, putting on a wonderful "frothy" display of small flowers about 1cm wide.  As the name suggests it has quite a lot of very sharp spines (experienced by this photographer as he was trying to find the name  ).  They're rather large plants, probably something like 8m tall, and very visible from quite a distance.

Getting late here now so I'm off to bed.  More pics here tomorrow.....

[shelagh]

Thanks Paul, I'm really enjoying this thread.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

The Bursaria is quite something Paul !  Beautiful shrub !
Thanks for sharing !

[Paul T]

This is Dryandra quercifolia, a member of the Proteaceae family.  This one is only perhaps 70cm tall, but the flowers are beautiful (5cm, perhaps a bit less, across).  Quite unusual, but utterly desirable. 






Grevillea suaveolens has quite delicate little flowers and attractive buds.  This was perhaps 4.5m tall, and 5.5m wide.  I would imagine the honeyeaters just love it. 






I am unsure of the species if this Eucalyptus.  After a storm this branch was lying on the ground so I was able to get a closeup of the flowers and how they're arranged on the branch.  I must track down what it is as it is a nice shaped tree, not too big, and very floriferous.

[Paul T]

I've posted pics of this previously, but the colour of Melaleuca fulgens 'Hot Pink' just has to be seen again.  I look forward to mine getting big enough to flower in my garden.  it is striking, particularly if the sun is shining on the flowers (or through them), and a major drawcard for honeyeaters.




This Olearia elliptica ssp elliptica is fairly nondescript when not in flower, but you certainly can't miss it when it is.  This plant was about 1.7m tall, with flowers around 1.5cm wide.  It just glowed in the sunshine.


The 'Sturt's Desert Pea' (Swainsonia formosa) are still in flower now, more than 6 months after they started, although some of them have slowed down and stopped flowering for this season.  Still a showstopper, as nearly everyone walking by stops to have a look at them because they are so unusual here in Canberra.




This little member of Epacridaceae is Woollsia pungens, which has quite sharp tips to it's leaves.  The flowers are quite small (less than 1cm across), but they do stand out as they are in clusters on the stem.  The plant photo doesn't really do them justice.  The whole plant is about 80cm tall.

[Lvandelft]

Paul, you do have so many interesting plants in your country.
I really like this weird 'sunflower' Dryandra quercifolia. What a beauty!

[Paul T]

Luit,

Yeah, some of the Protea family are pretty different.  The other little one I like is Isopogon, which has a lot of similarities to the Dryandra.  All very cool.