Australian Plants Society WaverleyAustralian Plants Society WaverleyJune / July 2016

Australian Plants Society Waverley Inc. Reg. No. A13116G http://www.apswaverley.host56.com/index.html PO Box 248 Glen Waverley Vic 3150

Meetings: Third Thursday of the month, Ground floor, Wadham House, 52 Wadham Parade, Mt Waverley (Melways 61 E12) Commencing 8pm

APS Waverley Group Events Other Events

JUNE Thursday 16 th

Meeting - Geoff Lay: “Plants of The Top End”

JULY Thursday 21 st Annual General Meeting - Jason Caruso: “Eucalypts for small gardens”

AUGUST Sunday 21 st

Garden Visit - Melton Botanic GardenDetails of departure time, meeting place, car sharing, etc willbe given at the July meeting.NO MONTHLY MEETING IN AUGUST

SEPTEMBER Thursday 22 nd

Meeting - Grand Plant Table

OCTOBER Thursday 20 th

Meeting - Paul Kennedy - “How to grow Australian Native Plants successfully”

NOVEMBER Thursday 17 th

Meeting - “In the Wild”

JUNE Saturday 25 th & Sunday 26 th

APS Ballarat Winter Flower Show and plant salesRobert Clark Horticultural Centre, Ballarat Botanic Gardens.10.30 am to 3.30 pm. Entry fee includes a cup of hot tea or coffee.

SEPTEMBER Saturday 3 rd

APS Wilson Park Plant SaleWilson Botanic Park, Princes Highway, Berwick. 9 am to 4.00 pm

SEPTEMBER Saturday 3 rd & Sunday 4 th

Bendigo Native Plants Group Flower ShowRotary Gateway Park, 26 High Street, Kangaroo Flat.

SEPTEMBER Saturday 10 th & 11 th APS Yarra Yarra Native Plants ExpoVenue to be advised. 10 am to 4 pm both days.

OCTOBER Saturday 1 st & Sunday 2 nd APS Grampians Group Pomonal Native Flower ShowPomonal Hall. 9.30 am to 5.00 pm.

OCTOBER Saturday 8 th & Sunday 9 th

11th FJC Rogers Seminar - “Native Terrestrial and Epiphytic Orchids"Hamilton, Vic 3300

PROGRAM

Saturday Full day conference and formal dinnerSunday Bus tours

TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST ...Contact Kevin Sparrow

Post 35 Swan Street, Warrnambool Vic 3280eMail ksparrow93@gmail.com

MEMBERSHIP FEES

2016/2017 Membership Fees Are Now Due – Use attached form to renew(new members joining after 1st February 2016 excepted)

APS Waverley and APS Victoria membership fees for 2016/2017 are unchanged from this year.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & NOMINATIONS FOR THE COMMITTEE

Notice of our Group's Annual General Meeting and a nomination form for positions on the 2016/ 2017 Group Committee are enclosed.

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Arthropodiumstrictum

APRIL Diana Droog: “Flinders Island”

Diana and her husband have been visiting Flinders Island in Bass Strait for 30 years and now own a 10 acre property with a holiday house on thewest coast of the island.The island is about 70 km by 30 km wide with a permanent population just under 800. Mount Strzelecki (756 metres) is the highest point and its peak is often cloud-covered resulting in moist gullies filled with tree ferns on some of its slopes. About 40% of the island is nature reserve, and tourism to these areas is a major industry. Farming and cattle raising

on the rest of the island are also major industries. Access to the island isby plane from either Essendon (1hr) or Launceston (35mins) or by bargefrom Bridport in Tasmania.During the last ice age when sea levels were much lower, the island waspart of a land bridge between mainland Australia and Tasmania. Whenthe sea level rose isolating the island its flora and fauna comprisedspecies from both Tasmania and Wilson's Promontory and adjacent areason the mainland. There are now about 800 plant species on the islandand over 200 species of birds have been seen.

Here is a selection of some of the photos Diana showed of the island's flora.

Banksia marginata Stylidiumgraminifolium

Xanthorrhoea Coral fungi

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Tree ferns Mt Strezlecki

Microsorumpustulatum

Kangaroo Fern

Dendrobiumstriolatum

Lichen

For further information about Flinders Island visit http://www.visitflindersisland.com.au/Thanks Diana for such an interesting talk. MAY Mirini Lang: “An Introduction To Ferns” Our own Mirini Lang gave a precise presentation of herfavourite genera, ferns, accompanied by a veritable display ofplants from her own garden. Many years ago, Mirini wascaptivated by a specimen of Adiantum raddianum (Maidenhair)and her passion has grown from there. Mirini has recentlycompleted the degree of Master of Urban Horticulture; wewere impressed with her botanical knowledge and her ability toconvey information carefully and clearly.

We all know what ferns are, but finding a definition was notquite so straightforward. Like trees and flowering plants, fernshave roots, stems and leaves, but unlike the flowering plants, ferns do not have flowers and donot produce seeds. The production of one-celled reproductive units, called spores, is what defines them and sets them apart from all flowering and cone-bearing plants. Ferns were the very first plants to colonise the land; they predate flowering plants by some 200 million years. Plants progressed due to the transport of water and nutrients to the cells. A spore is much smaller than a seed and its production does not rely on fertilisation. Primary fern roots anchorthe plant and absorb water and nutrients through the fine root hairs. Secondary (or adventitious) roots can branch and grow long.

Epiphytic ferns often have masses of root hairs, which can grow upwards, and have adapted togrowing on decaying organic matter; they are not parasitic (eg: Asplenium australasicum ‘Bird’s Nest Fern’).Cyathea: the roots grow downwards sticking closely to the trunk until they reach the ground and form a fibrous mat. In filmy ferns, the roots are just hairs which have a huge absorption capacity because of their large surface area and are best suited to high humidity environments.

Stems are usually called rhizomes, unless a trunk. They can be slender, wiry, fleshy or woody. Most hardy fern stems develop as rhizomes. The variation can easily be confused forroots, but rhizomes serve the same function as all other plant stems – they support the leaves.The fronds, or young curled up leaves, are called crosiers. The frond is divided into two parts: the blade and the stipe. The blade is the leafy part of the frond. The stipe is the part of the leaf stem that connects the leafy parts to the rhizome. Mirini then explained the variationsin leaf formation.

Then we saw pictures of a variety of ferns:

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Blechnum fluviatile“Creek Fern”, with rounded

pinnule ends, pinnate

Pellea falcataPointed/acute pinnule end,

short-medium creepingrhizome

Microsorum pustulatumSimple frond with creeping

rhizome

Blechnum cartilagineumPinnate, light green which

grows darker with age,pinnule wavy, creeping

rhizome

Blechnum nudum“Fishbone Water Fern”, tuftedrhizome, fronds coming out of

centre

Asplenium flabellifoliumFan-shaped pinnae, drapesover earth bank, ability to

develop new plants from frondtips

Rumohra adiantiformis“Leather Leaf Fern”, epiphyte,

tripinnate; long creepingrhizome

Sticherus lobatus“Spreading Fan-Fern”,

dichotomous/forked fronds

Dicksonia antarctica“Soft Tree Fern”

A waterfall, somewhere in the Otways, showing by examplethe type of environment in which ferns thrive: water,moisture, shade and humus-rich acidic soils.

Thank you, Mirini, for your excellent presentation.

Write-up - Virginia Barnett

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Plant of The Month - April Swainsona formosa - Sturt's desert peaSpecimen grown by Gavin Cole.

Sturt's desert pea is one of Australia's best known wildflowersand certainly has no equal in the Pea family.

Typical pea flowers consist of 4 petals; the "standard", the"keel" and two "wings". In the desert pea, the petals areconsiderably distorted from the "typical" pea shape as to bealmost unrecognisable as a member of the pea family. Theclassic desert pea flower is a deep scarlet or red on the standard,keel and wings with a black or dark red boss (the enlarged structure at the centre of the flower). Individual flowers are about 90mm long and are borne in groups of 5 or 6. In nature many colour variations are known, ranging from red through pinks to yellow and even albino forms.

S.formosa is usually a prostrate species with hairy, grey-green foliage comprising up to 15 oval-shaped leaflets.

In cultivation the desert pea is regarded as difficult and few people attempt to grow it. However it can be grown successfully in many areas if treated as an annual. Success is often reported by growing the plant using the method adopted by Gavin: in a deep container in a sunny, frost-free position. Gavin used an agricultural pipe standing on its end in a dish of water, Inside the pipeare two wicks to transport water from the dish to the plant in the top of the pipe. Native plant potting mix with added gravel and washed sand were used as the growing medium.

Flowering occurs from winter through to summer.

Some of the other plants on the May Plant Table Some of the other plants on the May Plant Table

Correa albaWhite correa

Correa reflexaNative fuchsia

Acacia iteaphyllaFlinders Range Wattle

Thryptomene baeckeacea

Plant of The Month - MayPlant of The Month - May Acacia podalyriifoliaAcacia podalyriifolia - Silver Wattle, Mt Morgan Wattle - Silver Wattle, Mt Morgan WattleSpecimen grown by Lilian McDonald.

Acacia podalyriifolia is a tall shrub or small tree which reachesabout 5 metres in height by a similar spread. Like mostmembers of the genus the mature plant does not have trueleaves but has leaf-like flattened stems called phyllodes whichare silvery grey in colour, oval in shape and 20-30mm long.

The flowers occur in ball-shaped clusters in the axils of thephyllodes and are golden yellow in colour. Flowering is mainlyin late winter and early spring.

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Propagation is relatively easy by normal seed raising methods following pretreatment by soaking in boiling water or by scarification. Propagation from cuttings is not usual.

CommitteeLeader Jenny Kelso 9889-1195Secretary Virginia Barnett 9803-4502Treasurer Gavin Cole 9885-1249Newsletter Graham Oliver 0418 359 067Librarian Geoff Schroder 9882-5213

Marlee Petrie 9701-2272John Watson 9574-9540

Supper Roster June 17th Gordon MacMillan

Joan Rand

July 21st Anne KerrMargaret Duncan

Please swap if unable to attend

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Australian Plants Society WaverleyAustralian Plants Society Waverley

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION / RENEWAL 2016/17 Ignore this form if you are a new member who joined after 1st Feb 2016 - your membership is

already paid to 30th June 2017. This is a combined membership form for APS Vic and for APS Waverley

Please use this form instead of the form sent out with the APS Victoria newsletter. For insurance purposes people who join APS Waverley must also join APS Victoria Inc.

MEMBERSHIP TYPESFEES

APS Victoria APS Waverley TOTAL

A Single $32.00 $20.00 $52.00

B Household $35.00 $30.00 $65.00

C Student $24.00 $15.00 $39.00

I wish to join / rejoin the Australian Plants Society (please select one)I agree to be bound by the Rules and Bylaws of the Society.Enclosed is my subscription for membership type A B C (circle one). Amount $ ……………….

Signed: ………………………………………………… Date: ..... .. / ……. / ……

Title Mr / Mrs / Ms / Miss

First Names

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Postal Address

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PAYMENT METHODS (use either method - circle the payment method used.)

1. Cheque / money orderMake cheque or money order payable to “APS Waverley” then mail it together with this form (com-pleted in full and signed) to: The Treasurer, APS Waverley Inc., PO Box 248, GLEN WAVERLEY VIC 3150

2. Direct debit

Account name: Australian Plants SocietyBSB number: 313-140 Account number: 403694Transaction description: [Please put your surname here] 2017 fees

Include your surname in the transaction description.

Mail this form (completed in full and signed) to:The Treasurer, APS Waverley Inc., PO Box 248, GLEN WAVERLEY VIC 3150

Australian Plants Society WaverleyAustralian Plants Society Waverley

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGThe Annual General Meeting of Australian Plants Society Waverley Inc. will be held at Wadham House, Wadham Parade, Mt Waverley on Thursday July 21st 2016 commencing at 8pm.

All committee positions will become vacant at this meeting and nominations are called for the following office bearers for 2016/17.

Leader Secretary Treasurer Newsletter Editor Committee Members

Please consider whom you would like to nominate for these positions, complete the nomination form below, and return it to the Secretary by 7th July 2016.

NOMINATION FORM Australian Plants Society Waverley Inc.

Nomination for election as an office bearer or committee member for 2016/17.

Position

Nominee

Please print name

Nominated by

Signature

Seconded by

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Declaration by Nominee

I am a financial member of Australian Plants Society Waverley Inc. and will perform the duties of the position to which I am elected in accordance with the rules and by-laws of the Society in force at the time.

Signed

Date

Please return the completed form to:

The Secretary, APS Waverley Inc.,

PO Box 248, GLEN WAVERLEY VIC 3150