This post will continue reporting on our recent (mid-April) series of walks to areas with some characteristics of rainforest. I will present the material sorted by location x type of specimen: that allows inclusion of a more complete range of species with minimal repetition. I will also give the status of the identification.
As a hint for new players, I have got behind in transferring these IDs from iNaturalist to my blog (and thence to Facebook). As iNaturalist - being as user-friendly (not) as other social media - seems to sort by date of last action it was a 💩 trying to find the particular image. Now I have discovered that filtering by date (of listing or observation) makes life a LOT easier 😃!
Pump station track
This is a short track which runs from the Log Cabins on Rasmus Avenue to the Mouth. It passes the main pumping station from the town centre to the Waste Water Treatment Plant. I usually go there looking for birds as there is a good diversity of habitats in a small area (possibly raising questions such as "What is a habitat?").
Ferns
Only one species of fern photographed: there were a few maidenhairs around but not photogenic. This is Cyathea australis .
Flowering plants
Smilax australis Lawyer vine Research Grade. I like that common name much more that the official one (which was probably designed by a lawyer) of Austral Sasaparilla.
This has been identified by two folk as Pandora pandorea Wonga vine with a note "juvenile foliage" from an expert. Thus Research Grade. I usually identify this, in adult form, as a profusely flowering vine.
Research Grade Coastal Banksia Research Grade
Homalanthus populifolius Bleeding Heart Research Grade Flora of Victoria says "not extending naturally into Victoria" but an expert notes "Bird dispersed and I've seen it in Nadgee, so it didn't have far to go to get into Vic."
Gynochthodes jasminoides Sweet morinda Research Grade. Apparently 'morinda' is derived from the Latin name for Mulberry. Taxonomists have been weaving their dark arts around this species.
Pittosporum undulatum Sweet Pittosporum Research Grade.
Solanum americanum American Black Nightshade Research Grade - some discussion of identification to species but the specialist in the genus noted "I'd go with S. americanum because the fruits and flowers all grow from the same point, calyxes are reflexed, flowers are tiny, and anthers are small and somewhat rounded."
Fungi
Oudemansiella gigaspora Research Grade: the taxonomy of this species looks to be a mess with some authorities calling this the name of a Northern hemisphere species while others - including iNaturalist - have separated the Australian species. It is the commonest gilled mushroom around the area at present.The Narrows
Ferns and Mosses
Lichen sp. a symbiosis of an algae or cyanobacteria, living among filaments of multiple fungi species: so not a bryophyte. Lichens are explained very well in this article from the US Forest Service (while it's about the lichen found between (roughly)San Diego and Maine the principles apply to our lichen also).
Fungus
Omphalotus nidiformis Ghost fungus Research Grade this first image required a fair scramble up the bank to get the snap.
Trametes coccinea Southern Cinnabar Polypore Research Grade
" a team of fungus specialists comprehensively assessed current knowledge on the topic. ... they calculated that there are likely to be 2–3 million species of fungi globally, with a best estimate of 2.5 million ... This means that more than 90% of fungal species remain unknown to science."
Flowering plants
... and the leaves.
Some birds
Casuarina Walk
Flowering Plants
This is Notelaea venosa (Veined Mock Olive) Research Grade. Expert commented that 'The AI suggested this one, and I guess it is, though it doesn't look quite typical, in that the leaves are not as stiff and leathery looking as they usually are."Eustrephus latifolius Wombat Berry Research Grade. The common name has puzzled me and a gardening site has this explanation "the tuberous roots are eaten by creatures such as wombats, hence the common name." I suspect wombats eat all sorts of vegetative matter so have no idea why this species has been picked out!Acacia terminalis Sunshine Wattle. Research Grade. Brings a little sunshine to the bush as it is the only wattle flowering at present.
Spyridium parvifolium Dusty Miller Research Grade Stands out with the duty leaves looking like flowers which (when they appear) are small and white!
Epacris impressa Research Grade. The floral Emblem of Victoria. Only a few samples at this time of year.
Brachyscome sp. The only colourful "daisy" we saw. Although small, I thought B. spathulata as the leaves are vaguely spoon-shaped (see arrows in 2nd image) but an expert disagreed. So stick to genus for the time being at least.
Ferns
Pteridium esculentum Austral Bracken Research Grade
Adiantum aethiopicum Common Maidenhair Fern Research Grade Quite common through the District but this was a very fine specimen beside the bridge at point 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are welcome but if I decide they are spam or otherwise inappropriate they will not be approved.