The State Herbarium of South Australia’s Plant of the Month for June 2016 is Spyridium phlebophyllum (F.Muell.) F.Muell. (inland spyridium; plant family Rhamnaceae), which occurs in Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, DEWNR’s Park of the Month.

Mt Aleck (Elders Ranges) with Wilpena Pound in the background. Photo: P.J. Canty.

Spyridium phlebophyllum is a South Australian endemic shrub, around 1.5 m high, growing on rocky ridges and upper slopes of the southern and northern Flinders Ranges, including Mt Remarkable, the Elder and Gammon Ranges, between Lake Torrens and Lake Frome. The species is associated with quartzite rocks and outcrops. Characteristic are the round leaves with conspicuously raised net-like venation on the upper leaf surface. The lower surface is covered in dense white-grey to rusty hairs. The species received its name on account of its distinctive venation, derived from the Greek words phlebs = vein and phyllon = leaf.

The plant was first described as Trymalium phlebophyllum by Ferdinand von Mueller from specimens he collected during his arduous, lone 6-week-long trip to the Flinders Ranges in spring 1851. Mueller organised this expedition himself, after unsuccessfully lobbying to be included as botanist in several government inland expeditions. He describes the species’ habit as “stately” and writes that it is growing in the “rocky summits of the Elders Ranges and other mountains near Lake Torrens“. The type collection was made in October 1851 from near Kanyaka (rendered “Cudnaka” in Mueller’s time).

Spyridium phebophyllum at Warren Gorge. Inflorescence surrounded by white floral leaves, vegetative leaves with raised veins. Photo: P.J. Lang.

While the scientific description was not published until 1855, Mueller mentions the species name already in his account of the flora and vegetation of the Lake Torrens area, which was published in April 1853 in Hooker‘s Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany (also republished in German in August 1853). Interestingly, the world-authority on Rhamnaceae, Siegfried Reissek at the Natural History Museum in Vienna, examined Mueller’s collections and described the plant in detail in 1857, noting that it was cultivated in the Vienna Botanic Gardens from seeds sent by Mueller and that it first flowered in 1855, after three years of cultivation, i.e. Mueller must have sent seeds to Vienna in 1852, shortly after his trip.

Since at that time the generic limits of Australian Rhamnaceae had not been finalised, Trymalium phlebophylum was (like many other species in the family) transferred from Trymalium to Spyridium and then to Cryptandra, before being accepted in the current genus. The confusion regarding generic placement of Rhamnaceae species was described in more detail in this journal article (2.3MB PDF).

Spyridium phlebophyllum, large shrub covered with inflorescences surrounded by conspicuous, white floral leaves. Photo: J. Kellermann.

Shrubs of Spyridium phlebophyllum near Wangara Lookout. View into Wilpena Pound. Photo: J. Kellermann.

In its native habitat, Spyridium phlebophyllum is susceptible to browsing by goats, similar to other species of the family, such as Stenanthemum arens in the western Gawler Ranges (as described in this Bushblitz report; 5.8MB PDF).

When you visit the Flinders Ranges next time, why not look out for the species. For example, it can be found near Wanagara Lookout, on the Boom and Bust Hike or on Mount Ohlsen Baggage.

Aseroe rubra. Photo: B. Baldock.

A diminutive, but spectacular fungus has emerged from the leaf and bark litter in the Australian Forest section of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. It is Aseroe rubra Labill., with 6 to 8 bright red arms spreading like forked spokes of a wheel. It has several common names that aptly describe an observer’s first response when they encounter it: sea anemone fungus, starfish fungus or …stinkhorn fungus.

Usually several, inconspicuous, partly buried “eggs” about 30 mm across are first to emerge. Each then splits and spreads its red arms (see time-lapse video at this link) to expose a central, slimy, stinking mass of spores. Flies find this irresistible, and, walking over the surface, pick up and disperse spores on their bodies. Perhaps the colour, shape and smell remind them of an open anus of a larger animal, complete with remnant droppings and worth a visit! Disgusting? Well, evidently successful for the continued existence of the fungus.

Aseroe rubra “eggs” and expanded fungus. Photo: B. Baldock.

It was originally described by the French botanist Jacques-Julien Houton de Labillardière from Tasmania, when the French were racing with Flinders to explore Australia in the 1800s. We now know it can be found across Australia and New Zealand, and has also popped up in Europe and North America.

If you are quick, you can see them growing in the mulch on the edge of the paths to the west of the Bicentennial Conservatory, while the favourable conditions last.

Hovea purpurea, State Herbarium of South Australia specimen AD96413149

A Remarkable occurrence

The Plant of the Month for May, Hovea purpurea, alpine hovea or rusty pods (formerly known as H. longifolia & H. beckleri), is an attractive violet-flowered shrubby pea with a disjunct outlying occurrence in the State that is truly remarkable.

Alpine hovea has its principal occurrences in eastern NSW and north-eastern Victoria (see AVH map) but re-appears over 1000 km to west on a few of the taller peaks in the Southern Flinders Ranges, which provide a refuge of cooler and moister conditions. The largest population here occurs on the rocky slopes of Mt Remarkable in DEWNR‘s Park of the Month for May 2016: Mt Remarkable National Park.

As well as Mt Remarkable and its northerly extension, the species occurs on the upper slopes of Mt Brown, The Dutchman’s Stern and Mt Aleck (in the Elder Range). There is also a Tate herbarium collection from the Gladstone area (probably from the late 19th century) and a single collection made in 1960 from St Mary’s Peak on the rim of Wilpena Pound. It would be good to have confirmation for these locations on the southern and northern extremes of its SA range, but the absence of recent records for such a striking plant suggests that it is no longer extant there.

Hovea purpurea specimen, detail with flowers

Being restricted to such a small zone on only the highest peaks of the southern Flinders Ranges, alpine hovea in SA is likely to be highly susceptible to climate change: there is no higher zone that it can shift up to as conditions become progressively warmer and drier.

The AD herbarium specimen shown here illustrates the species’ erect habit and distinctive leathery leaves that are smooth above and rusty-velvet below. It was collected by H.M. Cooper on Mt Remarkable in 1963 and still retains much of the original flower colour 53 years on.

H.M. Cooper (1886-1970) worked as an anthropologist with the South Australian Museum and, like many people of his time, had wide-ranging interests in natural history. Cooper contributed thousands of items, mainly aboriginal stone artefacts to the Museum’s collection, but also made important collections of fish, insects, land snails and plants. The latter collections are represented by over 3680 records in the State Herbarium database.

Hovea purpurea is listed as a Rare species in SA under Schedule 9 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act. Although its range is localised, alpine hovea is a prominent plant on the upper slopes of Mt Remarkable and hard to overlook when it is flowering in early spring.

Hovea purpurea, flowers & immature fruit, Mt Remarkable National Park. Photo: SA Seed Conservation Centre.