Author Archives: Jürgen

13th Australian Bryophyte Workshop

Held every two to three years since 1988, the Australian Bryophyte Workshops aim to present opportunities for those researching, or just interested in learning about, bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts) to meet and exchange knowledge of these plants in different environments. The 13^th Workshop has just taken place, for the first time in South Australia (see also announcement in the Australasian Bryological Newsletter). This presented participants with a different challenge from some other workshops — the need to search for the small and sometimes obscure in an environment not obviously favourable for bryophytes, which require free water to reproduce.

The Workshop was held from 20–26 August, the main part being based at Pichi Richi Park, near Quorn in the Flinders Ranges, and the last two days based at The University of Adelaide. On 20 August, most of the group investigated Spring Gully Conservation Park near Clare, and a half-day field trip was also held on 25 August to the Nature Trail / Spring Gully portion of Mount Lofty Botanic Garden. On 26 August, several information sessions were run by experts in particular bryophyte groups, in between time spent starting to identify some of the plants found during the previous days. Sites investigated in the Flinders Ranges included the Quorn area, Alligator Gorge, Mambray Creek, Winninowie and Melrose.

Participants of the 13th Australian Bryophyte Workshop

The 16 official participants came from South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania, Great Britain and the United States. Three members of the Friends of Spring Gully Park joined with the group on 20 August and three adults and two children from the lower Flinders area joined with some of the fieldwork there. Their interest and local knowledge were both helpful and encouraging.

Full identification of all the collected plants will involve detailed work and will take time, but it is already known that the Herbarium’s collections of some species have been greatly enriched. For example, co-organiser and State Herbarium staff member Graham Bell found the rarely-collected tiny moss Bryobartramia novaevalesiae (G.Roth) I.G.Stone & G.A.M.Scott, previously represented in the State Herbarium of South Australia by only one SA specimen. The rarely collected salt-marsh liverwort Monocarpus sphaerocarpus D.J.Carr was found in two sites during the Workshop.

monocarpus-sphaerocarpus-1411-800x300-bruce-fuhrer-anbg

Monocarpus sphaerocarpus. Photo: Bruce Fuhrer (ANBG web-site).

Contributed by State Herbarium botanist Graham Bell.

Plant of the month: Sep. 2016

September 1^st is Wattle Day, so the State Herbarium of South Australia has chosen golden wattle, Acacia pycnantha Benth., as the plant of the month for Belair National Park, DEWNR‘s Park of the Month (the history of the park is described in this chapter in Valleys of stone)

Acacia pycnantha, inland form. Photo: M.C. O’Leary.

Acacia pycnantha is a variable species that naturally occurs from southern New South Wales west to the Flinders Ranges and Eyre Peninsula, and is common in Belair National Park. Inland plants have a tendency to form slender small trees with narrow phyllodes and pale flowers, while those in wetter coastal habitats grow into larger trees with broader phyllodes and deep golden flowers.

Acacia pycnantha is widely cultivated and has become a weed in Australia and many countries around the world. In the 1980’s Trichilogaster signiventris wasp galls with young were sent to South Africa from Adelaide Botanic Gardens as a biocontrol. This introduction was a success and seed production was greatly reduced — the wasps lay eggs into the developing flower heads which produce galls that prevent seed formation.

Natural distribution of Acacia pycnantha.

In 2011 & 2012 African researchers visited the State Herbarium and conducted fieldwork with staff, revisiting the original collection site and genetically sampling populations across the range of A. pycnantha in Australia. The success of the wasps from South Australia was found to be due to the similarity with the weedy plants in South Africa, where other introductions had failed (see Annals of Botany 111: 895-904).

Acacia pycnantha (left) and A. provincialis (right). Fanny de Mole, Wildflowers of South Australia, 1861. Image: National Library of Australia.

The gum of Acacia pycnantha was an important summer food for the indigenous Nations where the plant occurred. This was noticed by the European settlers around Adelaide and the export of gum became an early industry. Fanny de Mole illustrated the species as one of the gum wattles in her 1861 book Wildflowers of South Australia.

Another important industry of the time was wattle bark for tanning, with Acacia pycnantha bark considered to be one of the richest tanning barks in the world. This resulted in extensive clearance of this common species. Later plantings of the species were conducted with limited success, and eventually Australia’s industry was out-competed by South Africa. Today Australia imports most of its tannin requirement, over $6 million per annum.

Australia Post stamp issued 9 Sep. 1959, design by Margaret Stone.

In 1988 Acacia pycnantha was officially proclaimed the Australian floral emblem and in 1992 the first of September was proclaimed as Wattle Day. However the desire for an Australian floral emblem and day of celebration had a long history. In 1889 the Adelaide branch of the Australian Native’s Association (exclusively male) suggested the formation of a Wattle Blossom League. In 1891 a Wattle Blossom Banner was publically displayed for the first time in Adelaide in connection with Foundation Day ceremonies. 1899 saw the formation of a Wattle Club in Victoria with outings on September first. In 1910 the South Australian and Victorian branches of the Wattle Day League were established, and the first Wattle Day was celebrated in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide on September first. In 1912 the Adelaide branch of the Wattle Day League called for the golden wattle to be the national flower and emblem of Australia. In 1915 the first memorial for the First World War in Australia was erected by the Wattle Day League in the southwest parklands at “Wattle Grove”. In 1919, Henry John (Harry) Butler dropped a golden wattle plant by parachute from his plane into Wattle Grove (presumably the first planting by plane). The League and Wattle Day gradually petered out after World War Two, in part being replaced by Arbour Day.

Contributed by State Herbarium botanist Martin O’Leary.

Bush Blitz Lake Torrens (1)

This year’s Bush Blitz expedition in South Australia targets a large area west of Lake Torrens. Scientists from the State Herbarium of South Australia, the South Australian Museum, Flinders University, The University of Adelaide, Queensland Museum and the National Herbarium of Victoria will explore the area during the next two weeks, surveying plants, fungi, lichens and animals.

The Bush Blitz study area west of Lake Torrens includes five Pastoral Leases.

On Saturday, three Herbarium botanists, Peter Lang, Chelsea Tothill & Chris Brodie, and DEWNR staff member Dave Armstrong departed for the base camp at Andamooka Homestead. Their 4WD vehicles were filled to the brim with gear, survey equipment and plant presses. They are now busy working in the field, even though yesterday’s rain has slowed down progress slightly. The latest images on the Bush Blitz blog show them collecting plants and surveying two standard sites that were established in the two main land systems of the area: sandy dunes and gibber plains.

Work on Standard Survey Site 1, sand dunes. From left to right: Chelsea Tothill, Peter Lang, Remko Leijs (with insect net, South Australian Museum) and Chris Brodie. Photo: Bush Blitz.

Bush Blitz is an innovative partnership between the Australian Government, BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities and Earthwatch Australia. It is the world’s first continent-scale biodiversity survey, providing the knowledge needed to help us protect Australia’s unique animals and plants for generations to come.

Bush Blitz scientists working on Standard Survey Site 2, gibber plains. Photo: Bush Blitz.

State Herbarium joins the Botanic Gardens

The Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium is legally responsible for the State Herbarium of South Australia and the Botanic Gardens of South Australia. However, for over a decade, the State Herbarium has been more closely linked to science-focussed groups in DEWNR. This enabled the institution to forge better links with other scientists in the Department.

With the appointment of Dr Lucy Sutherland as the new Director of the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, announced recently by the Envirionment Minister Ian Hunter, the State Herbarium and the Botanic Gardens will also formally be combined into one Branch. Sandy Pitcher, Chief Executive of DEWNR, stated that this was a great new opportunity for the State Herbarium and its staff. The move would assist them to raise the Herbarium’s profile in line with that of the Gardens, which should bring opportunities that would otherwise not be possible.

The old Tram Barn building on Hackney Road, housing the State Herbarium of South Australia.

Dr Sutherland will be the ninth Director of the Gardens in its 160 year history. She is currently national coordinator of the Australian Seed Bank Partnership, a Visiting Professor at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Peru and has previously worked as acting director of the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra. She holds a MAppSci (Charles Sturt University) and PhD (London Metropolitan University) in botanic gardens management and has integrated her academic studies in ecology and the social sciences with her practical experience in botanic gardens and protected area management, policy and practice. Dr Sutherland published and presented papers on botanic gardens focusing on such topics as collections management, biodiversity and plant conservation, nature-based tourism, education and interpretation policy and practice. She will take up her appointment in October 2016.

SALA 2016 at the Wine Centre

As part of this year’s SALA South Australia’s Living Artists Festival, the National Wine Centre of Australia is hosting an exhibition featuring art inspired by the nature of Kangaroo Island.

How do we love thee? Let us count the ways…
KI grass tree & green carpenter bee

Cath Canlon, Burrowing. Photo: Fine Art KI

Fine Art Kangaroo Island presents exciting new work by exceptionally talented, celebrated and emerging artists, interconnected by an extraordinary sense of place. 21 artists combine fascinating art with pristine natural environment to depict the vulnerable native bee and its reliance on the enigmatic, slow growing Xanthorrhoea. Remarkable for large areas of remnant vegetation, the island hosts a diversity of unique ecosystems, which provide refuge for this beautiful endangered buzz pollinator and rare tufted grass tree.

A wide variety of media are exhibited, ranging from jewelry and sculpture, to prints, painting and photographs.

The exhibition runs until 28 August 2016. Opening hours are: Mon–Fri 8am–9pm, Sat & Sun 9am–9pm.

On Tuesday, 23 August, 11:30am, Fleur Peters from Fine Art Kangaroo Island will give a brief exhibition talk for staff, Hon. Associates, volunteers and friends of the State Herbarium of South Australia (meeting point is at the café).