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References Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney Australia (2009). New South Wales Flora online, National Herbarium of New South Wales. http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/,accessed: 27/10/2009. Brisbane Rainforest Action and Information Network – Brisbane Rainforest Plants www.brisrain.webcentral.com.au Noosa’s Native Plants www.noosanativeplants.com.au For further information contact: WetlandCare Australia PO Box 114 Ballina NSW 2478 T: (02) 6681 6169 E: [email protected] W: www.wetlandcare.com.au WetlandCare Australia: Working to protect, promote and restore wetlands since 1991 www.wetlandcare.com.au Ocean Shores Public School Wetland Twenty five plants you will find along your nature trail Index Common Name Snake Vine Austral sarsaparilla or Barbed wire vine Cockspur Thorn Whip Vine Spike Rush Common Reed Soft Tree Fern Tall Saw-Sedge Tussock Sedge Swamp Water Fern Cunjevoi Native Violet Swamp Mahogany Macaranga Brown Kurrajong Tuckeroo Weeping Bottlebrush Swamp Oak Hoop Pine Bangalow Palm Weeping Lilly Pilly Cabbage Palm Broad-leaved Paperbark Sandpaper Fig Bird’s Nest fern Bird's Nest Fern (Asplenium australasicum) Page 3 Scientific name Stephania japonica Plant Type Vine Smilax australis Maclura cochinchinensis Flagellaria indica Lepironia articulata Phragmites australis Dicksonia antarctica Gahnia clarkei Carex appressa Vine Vine Vine Rush Grass Fern Sedge Sedge 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Blechnum indicum Alocasia brisbanensis Viola hederacea Fern Herb Herb 12 13 14 Eucalyptus robusta Macaranga tanarius Commersonia bartramia Cupaniopsis anacardioides Tree Shrub Shrub 15 16 17 Tree 18 Callistemon viminalis Casuarina glauca Araucaria cunninghamii Archontophoenix cunninghamiana Tree Tree Tree 19 20 21 Palm 22 Waterhousea floribunda Livistona australis Shrub Palm 23 24 Melaleuca quinquenervia Ficus coronata Asplenium australasicum Tree Tree Epiphyte 25 26 27 This plant is called a Bird’s Nest Fern because it resembles a bird’s nest. It doesn’t have seeds in pods, but produces spores under its leaves. Can grow in trees (as an epiphyte) or on the ground. Collects water and plant matter in the centre of the “nest” to feed itself and provide a growing medium for the root system of the fern. Its fronds can reach 2 m long. Look for me: attached to the trunk of larger trees along the nature trail. p.27 Sandpaper Fig (Ficus coronata) Snake Vine (Stephania japonica) The Sandpaper Fig is a tree 6–12 m tall. The new growth is hairy. The succulent oval fruit is around 1.5 cm long and covered in dense hairs. The fruit is edible. Feel its leaves, they actually feel like sandpaper. Grows along river banks and gullies. Ficus coronata serves as a food plant for the caterpillars of the Queensland butterfly the Common or Purple Moonbeam (Philiris innotatus). Other animals which use this plant for food include the Australasian Figbird (Sphecotheres vieilloti), Green Catbird (Ailuroedus crassirostris), Olive-backed Oriole (Oriolus sagittatus), Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus). A popular story is that the fig's leaves were used as sandpaper for polishing wood or turtle shells by indigenous people. A climber with slender stems without prickles. Flowers from September through summer. Leaves and berries were crushed to poison fish. Fruit is an orange berry. Look for me: entwining up through the forest canopy. Look for me: my rough leaves feel like my common name “Sandpaper”. p.26 p.3 Austral sarsaparilla (Smilax australis) Broad-leaved Paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia) Smilax australis is a robust thorny climber. It has prickly climbing stems that are up to 8 m long with coiled tendrils up to 20 cm long. When ripe the fruits are black berries with hard shiny seeds. This is sometimes called Wait-A-While Vine because if you get caught up in its spikes, it is difficult to get out! Flowers are greenish-white. Leaves make medicinal tea and the fruits are edible. Melaleuca stems from two Greek words relating to the trees’ appearance: melas, meaning black and leucon, meaning white. Paperbarks like wet feet (they can tolerate wet, swampy conditions). If you hold a leaf up to the light you can see its shiny oil glands. You can then crush it to smell the aromatic oils. The flower spikes are made up of creamy, sometimes greenish flowers which appear in autumn and winter. The woody fruits are 4-5 mm in diameter and contain many tiny seeds that are easy to collect and grow. Paperbarks are known for making productive soil called peat. The bark peels off in strips and has many uses ranging from wrapping food for cooking and water storage, to making bandages and compostable raincoats. The nectar-rich blossoms can be soaked in water making a sweet drink or tea. Used to treat symptoms of colds, flu and sinusitis by chewing the leaves or inhaling the steam from boiling or burning the leaves. Look for me: climbing up through the trees but be careful as I am really prickly. Look for me: my whitish papery bark is like many fine sheets of tissue paper stuck together. p.4 p.25 Cabbage Tree Palm (Livistona australis) Cockspur Thorn (Maclura cochinchinensis) A beautiful native palm species with fan-shaped leaves that can grow into a large tree up to 30 m high. The fruits are small hard black berries. They take a long time to ripen, and take a long time to germinate. The growing tip, known as a ‘cabbage’, was eaten either uncooked or roasted by Aborigines and early settlers. However, harvesting of this tip kills the plant because it cannot regrow from another point. Used by Aborigines for making baskets and shelter. The fibrous bark was used to make fishing lines. Flower spikes are cream-white in colour and it flowers between December and February. A woody shrub which can form a thicket with fierce thorny spines and oval small leaves. The orange fruits are produced generously, on the female plants, in February. The fruit are delicious to people and birds. An excellent, dense bird shelter. Broken leaves and twigs ooze milky sap. Look for me: climbing over other plants with my long spines. Look for me: high in the canopy with my fan-shaped leaves. p.24 p.5 Whip Vine (Flagellaria indica) Weeping Lilly Pilly (Waterhousea floribunda) Robust perennial climber with stems which flower from spring to autumn. Used by Aborigines to make fish traps and other strong baskets. Used as bush medicine: young shoots and buds crushed and mixed with water to relieve sore throats, toothache and chest complaints. Aborigines used the roots as a source of water. Look for me: climbing with long leaves up towards the canopy. A medium to large tree growing to approximately 15 m in height. Shiny green leaves with dense canopy. The new growth leaves are often a pink/purple colour. Clusters of small, perfumed white flowers appear from August to October. The fruit, when ripened is pink and edible – yum! Look for me: I’m the tree with wavy, shiny dark green leaves. p.6 p.23 Grey Rush/Spike Rush (Lepironia articulata) Bangalow Palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) This palm has a violet flower and red fruits which are attractive to birds. It flowers in mid-summer and has evergreen foliage. It is ‘self-cleaning’ - it sheds its old leaves and flowers regularly. Bangalow palms can grow up to and over 20 m tall and can grow quickly, up to 1 m per year. It has become a weed overseas where it has been used as an ornamental plant. They like more water than most palms which is why they are found in our wetland. A large, rush-like, grey-green coloured plant. Habitat for the endangered fish, the Oxleyan Pygmy Perch. Look for me: around the edge of the deeper ponds. Look for me: along the edge of the nature trail. p.22 p.7 Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) Common Reed (Phragmites australis) Phragmites: from the Greek phragma (a hedge) and -ites (resembling) Can live in a lot of water and has a funny flower head that looks like a sausage on a stick. Grows in wet places especially at the edge of ponds and streams, and in tidal waters. Can be grazed by livestock. Binds river banks and prevents erosion. Stems used by Aborigines for making bags, baskets, thatching and mats. Butterfly host plant and habitat for wildlife. Bark is rough and circular with “hoop” markings. The leaves cluster at the end of the branches. It produces cones which take about 18 months to mature and then release nut-like edible seeds. This tree can grow to 50 m high and live up to 450 years! Brisbane city was once a dense hoop pine rainforest. The wood is a high quality timber and is now found mainly in plantations. The resin was used by Aborigines as cement. Look for me: before you enter the trail on the right hand side. Look for me: in the deeper ponds. p.8 p.21 Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca) Soft Tree Fern (Dicksonia antarctica) A large tree with distinctive needle-like foliage which is in fact its branches. The leaves are minute teeth located at various intervals along the branches. There are male and female trees; female trees have small tuft-like red flowers and male trees have small rusty coloured flowers at the ends of the branches. The fruit is a round, knobbly woody capsule, and its seeds are pale brown with a broad papery tail. It drops the leaves into a dense mat beneath itself so that nothing can grow there and steal its food and water. Canoes were made from the thick fibrous bark of several species, carefully cut away in whole sheets. Tree ferns are some of the most ancient trees on the planet, they have been around for millions of years (365 million apparently). These ferns can grow to 15 m in height, but more typically grow to about 4.5-5 m, and consist of an erect rhizome forming a trunk. The large, dark green, roughly textured fronds spread in a canopy of 2-6 m in diameter. The very hairy "trunk" of this fern is the decaying remains of earlier growth of the plant. It forms a medium through which the roots grow and it can also be host for a range of epiphytic plants including other ferns and mosses. The fern grows 3.5 to 5 cm per year and produces spores at the age of about 20 years. Look for me: larger swamp oaks are throughout the trail. Look for me: in the first straight stretch of the trail on the right hand side. p.20 p.9 Tall Saw-sedge (Gahnia clarkei) This plant is commonly called Razor Grass! Be careful if you run your fingers up a saw sedge leaf edge; it will cut you, that is why it is called saw-sedge. Can grow up to 2 m high and is easily recognised by its large seed head and orange to red nuts. It is a popular plant for small birds which use it for nesting or to hide from predators. It is also commonly a food plant for caterpillars which then become butterflies. Aborigines used to make flour from the seeds. Weeping Bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis) This bottlebrush is widely planted in backyards. Do you have one in yours? Look for its bright red flower spikes between September and December. Bottlebrush flowers are like lollies for birds such as parrots and honey eaters – they are very rich in nectar. Weeping Bottlebrush grows 5 to 7 m tall and is common along watercourses. Look for me: dotted along the edge of the wetland. Look for me: on the first sharp bend of the trail on the right hand side, and through our wetland. p.10 Photo: Adam Gosling p.19 Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides) Tussock Sedge (Carex appressa) A common medium-sized tree with large oblong leaflets that have a notch at the tip and cream flowers in winter. The fruit capsule is brownish-yellow and three-lobed with a large black seed in each lobe. When ripe, the capsule opens up to reveal the seed enclosed in a bright red covering. Yellow-orange berries are edible. Fruit ripens from October to December, attracting many birds including Australasian Figbirds, Olive-backed Orioles and Pied Currawongs. A fire retardant tree, it does not burn easily, so prevents hot, damaging bushfires. It is called a Tuckeroo because it provided bush tucker to the Aborigines. This sedge looks a bit like grass and loves to have “wet feet”. It is very hardy and has fine serrations along the edges of the leaf blades that can cut your finger. Mini-habitat for frogs to hide in. Important habitat for the endangered Grass Owl, who nest underneath them. Flowers in spring to summer. Look for me: on the left hand side of the first straight stretch of the trail, low down on the ground. Look for me: throughout the wetland and on the edge of the wetland. I am a common plant of the area. p.18 p.11 Swamp Water Fern (Blechnum indicum) Brown Kurrajong (Commersonia bartramia) One of the only ferns in Australia that likes water. The endangered Wallum Sedge Frog (Litoria olongburensis) lives in these ferns. Rhizomes roasted and used by Aborigines as a staple food. A small tree or shrub, with twigs that have numerous white, small corky pores. The fruit is a brown, hairy capsule covered with soft bristles splitting into five segments. Aborigines made a fibre from the bark of this plant for use in fish and kangaroo netting. It is sometimes called scrub christmas tree due to the masses of white flowers which appear around late December and make the plant look like it has snow-covered branches. Food for the Peacock Jewel butterfly. Look for me: in amongst the undergrowth throughout the wetland. Look for me: on the edge of the wetland. p.17 p.12 Macaranga (Macaranga tanarius) Cunjevoi (Alocasia brisbanensis) This plant has large heart-shaped leaves and is sometimes called Bullocks Heart. Greenish cream flowers and green capsule fruit. Birds eat the ripe fruit and Macaranga are a butterfly host plant. Aborigines used the leaves to wrap food, as wood for fishing spears and twine was made from the bark. This plant has large shiny spade-shaped leaves which are soft green in colour. It is an understorey plant and can grow to 1.5 m. It flowers in early summer with yellow-green flowers, which are fragrant with a strong rose-like scent. Red fruits follow the flowering which are juicy and sweet smelling, but contain a highly toxic alkaloid. The flower part of the Cunjevoi is very poisonous - it was crushed and used by aborigines to poison fish. When well-cooked however it is possible to eat the plant – it is related to Taro. Look for me: on the edge of the wetland. Look for me: there are many Cunjevoi on either side of the trail after the crossing. p.16 p.13 Native Violet (Viola hederacea) Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus robusta) The Australian native violet is a creeping, evergreen perennial, growing no more than 10 cm in height with beautiful dainty little purple flowers. It flowers in spring and summer and spreads widely into a dense mat. The leaves are bright green in colour and kidney-shaped. Prefers a cool and shady position. It grows best in consistently moist soil. The flowers are edible and make a wonderful addition to a salad. Important food for koalas and also used for timber and honey production. Grows to a height of between 20-35 m tall with a red-brown bark which is rough in texture. The flowers are white. It is an extremely fast-growing tree which can tolerate moderate salinity (saltiness). The wood is used in construction in wet areas and it is durable and resistant to marine borers. Occurs in swamps and alongside estuaries in a narrow coastal strip, usually within a few kilometres of the ocean. Look for me: covering the ground on the left hand side of the first stretch of the trail. Look for me: past the water crossing on the right hand side there is a very tall Swamp Mahogany. p.15 p.14