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AUSTRALIAN PLANTS SOCIETY
SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE REGION INC. A00131128P
PO Box 8835 Armadale 3143
Email: [email protected]
JUNE NEWSLETTER 2016
Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month, February to December except November. The venue is the Hughesdale Community Hall, Cnr Poath and Kangaroo Roads, Hughesdale (MEL 69 C7) Visitors are always very welcome.
COMMITTEE: PRESIDENT: John Thompson 9598 6982 [email protected] DEPUTY LEADER: Helen Appleby 0419 310 849 SECRETARY: Helen Appleby TREASURER: Gillian Jervis 9569 5637 [email protected] PUBLIC OFFICER: Gillian Jervis NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Marj Seaton 9570 6293 [email protected] COMMITTEE: Catherine Irwin [email protected] Please forward any newsletter contributions, comments or photos to Marj at 36 Voumard Street, Oakleigh South 3167 or to the email address above.
Deadline for the July newsletter is June 25th
JUNE MEETING Tuesday June 7th at 8pm Speaker: John Thompson
Topic: “Little Desert”
John and Amanda went with the Friends of Cranbourne Gardens on a jaunt to the Little Desert last year. John will regale us with his adventures and present his usual collection of great slides. Please come along and be inspired – you may even decide to go yourself as a result.
Picture from the Little Desert website
2.
It is with great sadness that we note the death of Geoff Sherlock. Our condolences go to Pam at this very sad time.
MAY MEETING Speaker: Geoff Lay Topic: Fungi
Geoff gave us a very entertaining talk broken into three sections: the life cycle of a fungus, the interaction with the environment, and the various types of fungi. Fungi are neither plants nor animals. They have no chlorophyll so rely on obtaining their nutriment from pre-existing biological material. There are over 500 000 fungi in Australia, of which 10 000 are macrofungi and only 50% of those are yet defined. Fungi are found on all continents and in all environments on earth. There are few common names. Macrofungi depend on hyphae which are underground threads or filaments, clump to form mycelia and look a bit like cotton wool. The mycelium may take a variety of colours. Hyphae are not the same as the roots of plants having no protective walls around their cells and consisting of proteins of the chiton group. When the mycelium is sufficiently mature, it forms fruiting bodies which produce spores. These fruiting bodies generally contain more than 90% water. Geoff then showed us a series of slides introducing various types and habits of fungi.
Fairy rings are formed from a central fungus which then grows outward every year.
Saprotrophic fungi feed on dead organic matter
Parasitic fungi feed on living matter eg we saw Cordyceps gunnii attached by a white stalk to a caterpillar up to 30cm underground on which it was feeding.
Armillaria destroys the food and water transport system of host trees and kills them.
Wood rots are of two types: - brown rot eats the walls of cells not the lignin inside the cells - White rots which attack all of the wood and usually is light in
colour.
Fungi need both oxygen and water. Heartwood of trees is dead and contains less toxins than the outer cellular layers and is more susceptible to fungus attack. Without fungi, trees would grow hundreds of metres high.
During plant photosynthesis, carbohydrates are produced. Of these, 15 – 30% can be transferred to fungi.
In poor soils (which Australia has in abundance), mycorrhiza are essential for plants. Eucalypts can have over 1000 mycorrhiza associated with their roots.
Hyphae help bind soil particles.
Lichens are compound plants of algae and fungi and contribute to nitrogen fixation in the soil.
‘Mushroom’ genera are differentiated by
spore colour, shape and ornamentation
egg shells
types of veils and rings
any attachments Spores are different from seeds. Each spore has one living cell and is very small (>200 on a pinhead). They are produced in immense numbers. They may be spherical or sausage shaped and have smooth, angular, wrinkled or warty surfaces. Spore prints can be made by placing the underside of a piece of paper in contact with the
3. fungus and leaving overnight. The spore colour, which may be hard to see, can be white, black, brown, green, purple or pink. Spores can sometimes be seen when they drop onto a lower cap or a ring of the fruiting body. Types of fungi: Egg shells and veils. Some genera grow out of an egg. The shell remnants remain on the cap and the bottom of the ‘shell’ surrounds the stem. The fungus appears to grow out of the egg. The common Amanita muscaria (fly agaric, right) found under pine trees is such an egg shell. Most mushrooms don’t have an egg, about half have a veil ring and some have no ring. Veils can be membranous or look like spider webs; some are mobile, moving up and down the stem. Luminous fungi (eg right) There appears to be no purpose for the luminosity. Two such luminous fungi give enough light to read a newspaper by. Gills. Some run down the stem, others are at right angles, some are jagged, some circular and some even free of the stem. Coprinus atramentaria has black ink which helps pull the gills away from the stem so the spores can escape. We saw a variety of slides showing free gills, white spores, off centre stems and a host of other variants. Truffles. Grow underground and don’t fully develop gills. Animals with long noses (potoroos, bandicoots) smell the truffles, dig them up and eat them. The spores travel through the animal and are deposited in their dung. “Don’t Eat These!
Amanita phalloides (right) is responsible for 85% of all fungi deaths. It grows under pine trees though may be spreading to other environments. A piece the size of a 20 cent coin will produce no symptoms for 6 hours, but agony thereafter and death within 24 hours.
Agaricus xanthodermis looks a bit like the common mushroom except for more vertical sides on the cap. When rubbed, a yellow stain appears.
Weird and Wonderful fungi: Lactorius bleeds! Boletes have pores not gills. Teeth fungi have fertile spines underneath their surfaces, no gills or pores. Coral fungi look like small corals Puffballs have holes in the top. Rain drops fall on the skin and cause a puff of spores out of the hole. Birds nests. About 1 – 1.5cm across. Rely on raindrops to splash out the eggs. Stinkhorns. Weird shapes, terrible smells. Grow out of mulch. Brackets. Both fleshy and leathery. Cups and Discs. Grow on banksias, with each banksia having its own type. Fire fungus. Come up on what’s left after fire. Slime moulds – not really a fungus as there are no hyphae. There are two phases – one moves, the other is solid. Photography: Geoff uses a block to keep his camera steady, a wine cask to reflect light to allow light to get a good view of the bottoms of the fungus, and a make-up mirror to view the underside. A couple of other points to note: Fungi are not protected. Tasmanian fungi are almost the same as those inVictoria. Finally, Geoff showed us a selection of books for further study, including Genevieve Gates’ “Field guide to Tasmanian Fungi’ and “Fungi down Under’, the fungimap guide. He has a ‘key’ which he will also make available to us,
4.
A follow-on from Geoff’s talk:
4 June 2016 - RBG Cranbourne Fabulous Fungi Workshop. Saturday from 9.30
am to 4.00 pm.
Speakers include Dr Tom May, a senior mycologist from Royal Botanic Gardens
Victoria, Dr Noushka Reiter, an orchid conservationist and botanist from Royal
Botanic Gardens Victoria, Geoff Lay from the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, Dr
Simone Louhwoff, an expert on lichens, and John Thompson.
Topics include an overview of fungi, orchid-fungi relationships, fungi of Victoria,
lichens and a cultural history of fungi.
RBGC Friends members $60, non-members $75, Students $30.
SPECIMEN TABLE
Geoff Lay, Amanda Louden, Marj Seaton and John Thompson were our contributors at the May meeting. Geoff showed two Graptophyllum, G. ilicifolium (rare) and G. excelsum. These were both from central Queensland and looked rather similar to eremophilas. One was dark red, the other also red but a bit sparser in
its foliage. Both need warmth. Amanda and Marj both brought in what purport to be Acacia beckleri, but possibly aren’t. similar leaves, but Amanda’s flowers were golden, whereas Marj’s was lighter in shade. Amanda’s flowers from the bottom up, Marj’s flowers at the top of the bush. Both make excellent garden specimens. Others from Amanda’s collection included four correas of uncertain provenance, Acacia jibberdingensis, Diplolaena grandiflora (right) from coastal WA, and several stems of Hypocalymma xanthopetalum. This last flowers almost continuously and is often confused as being a wattle. About 60cm high, it spreads well to form a lovely golden bush. Amanda also
brought in two striking Brachychiton leaves from B. ormeau and B. rupestris (right). Marj had a dwarf banksia, B. ‘Coastal Cushion”, two local wattles
5. Acacia suaveolens and A. verticillata, and a prostrate Templetonia retusa. Initially this was red in colour but has matured to be cream and salmon in colour. It is growing in the shade of a grevillea and gets little water. (See Pick of the bunch on page 5) John offered Grevillea fililoba – pinkish red, ferny soft foliage, 3m wide, 1 ½ m high, responds well to pruning – and a westringia (W. sp) with white flowers, 2.5 x 2m, hardy, flowers for a long time.
RAINFALL RECORDS
The following are our rainfall records for this year (in mm). Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
Murrumbeena 79 20 64* 84*
Oakleigh South
57 26 42.2 52 177.2
Highett 41 16.8 27 39.9 124.2
Hampton 40 6
Cranbourne South
73 9 42 51 175
*readings uncertain
Pick of the Bunch May 2016 Templetonia retusa (Vent.) R.Br. Cockies Tongue
Specimen grown by Marj Seaton Templetonia retusa is an erect often much branched plant, 0.5 - 2.5m x 0.3 -1.5m, with deep green or grey green leaves which contrast well with the red, yellow, apricot or rarely white flowers. It flowers from April to November.
T. retusa is found generally round the coast from Shark Bay in the north to Israelite Bay on the south coast of WA and into South Australia. It favours sandy soils or loam over limestone. Plants do best in well drained soils in a sunny to semi shaded aspect. Plants can be clipped and are suitable for hedging. They withstand exposed coastal positions and are moderately frost tolerant. Propagation is from seed or cuttings, if propagating a particular colour type.
Templetonia is a member of the Fabaceae (alt.Papilionaceae) family, a large family of c.500 genera with c.12000 species worldwide and c.140 genera and c.1100 species in Australia. The genus is an Australian endemic with c.12 species. The genus Templetonia is named after John Templeton (1766-1825), an Irish botanist who specialised in mosses, fungi, lichens and algae The species name, retusa, is derived from the Latin, retusus, blunt, bot. having a blunt rounded apex with a central notch referring to the shape of the leaves.
6.
Gogo juice. Because of our support for Neutrog’s Bush tucker fertiliser, they have forwarded to Helen a number of bottles of Gogo juice, a probiotic plant stimulant, for us to try. Several bottles were available at the May meeting, together with a flyer about the product. There may be some left for those attending the June meeting.
JUNE MEETING
Supper: Marj Seaton (please remember to bring 1 litre of milk) Write-up: John Thompson
DIARY DATES May 30 Committee meeting. Gillian’s. 7:45pm June 4 RBG Cranbourne Fabulous Fungi Workshop. 9.30 am to 4.00 pm. June 7 John Thompson “The Little Desert” June 11 – 13 Bookfest, RBG Cranbourne, 10am – 4pm, auditorium (Mel 133 K10). See flyer June 25,26 Ballarat Winter Plant Sale – see July 5 Memberships due for APS Vic and APS SE Melbourne July 5 Paul Kennedy “Hakeas” July 23, 24 Growing Friends Spring plant sale, RBG Cranbourne, 10 – 4 (Mel 133 K10) August 2 * AGM and members’ slide night September 3 APS Wilson Park plant sale, Wilson Botanic Park, Princes Hwy, Berwick 9 - 4 September 6 Warren Warboys:”Pruning Natives” October 4 David and Barbara Pye: “Melton Botanic Gardens” October 8,9 FJC Rogers Conference – “Native Terrestrial and Epiphytic Orchids, Register your interest
with Kevin Sparrow, [email protected]. November 20 (Third Sunday) Visit to Melton Botanic Gardens December 6 Slide night, “clear the decks plant sale”, Christmas break-up.
The Powerful Owl at Melbourne Gardens has been attracting keen photographers and here is a great
image of the owl having a furry snack near the Fern
Gully last week.
This is from the photo collecttion by David Paul of Melbourne Museum. Others can be seen at http://mvsciences.pixieset.com/powerfulowl/ Thanks to Ray Turner for sending this through.
7.
Memberships are due on June 30th
. Please pay at our next meeting or send to the
address given at the end of this form.
JOINT MEMBERSHIP FORM for APS VIC and APS SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE
For 2016/2017 and onwards
APS Vic
$
No. of years APS SE Melb
$
No. of years Total $
Single (A) 32 10
Household (B) 35 15
Student (C) 24 8
If you have already paid please tick this box and just fill in your details below.
Please circle the category (A, B or C) you are wishing to apply for, insert the number of
years, and the total you are paying.
Amount
paid……………………………………..Date…………………………………………
Title……………………Surname……………………………………………………………
First name(s) …………………………….…………………………………………………...
Postal address………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………..………………………………Postcode…………………………
Phone………………………………………Mobile…………………………………………
Email………………………………………………………………………………………
Payment methods:
Direct deposit to APS South East Melbourne (preferred method)
Bank CBA
BSB 063 209
A/c name: Australian plant society – South East Region Inc
A/c No: 1002 6413
Remember to include your surname as a reference.
or
Cheque or money order for the appropriate amount to the Treasurer, Gillian Jervis, either directly or posted to 6 Macgregor Street, Malvern East Vic 3145
Cash directly to the Treasurer at meetings.
8.
