The Native Plants of Adelaide - Wakefield Press

18 Pages·2010·1.43 MB·English

The Native Plants
of Adelaide
Returning the vanishing natural heritage
of the Adelaide Plains to your garden
§
Written by Phil Bagust
& Lynda Tout-Smith
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Wakefield Press
1 The Parade West
Kent Town
South Australia 5067
www.wakefieldpress.com.au

First published by the Government of South Australia’s Department for Environment and
Heritage, Urban Forest Biodiversity Program in 2005, reprinted by Wakefield Press with
updates in 2010.
Jacket and text layout, map and illustrations reproduced from 2005 edition
with thanks.
Text and photography copyright © Phil Bagust & Lynda Tout-Smith, 2010.
All rights reserved. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes
of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no
part may be reproduced without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the
publisher.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the community of people whose love of our local flora
and dedication to its preservation has been an inspiration and a support in the writing
of this book. In particular the lifetime’s work of Darrell Kraehenbuehl of recording and
advocating for our disappearing local flora has paved the way for us. Thanks goes to Carol
Shields, who had the initial vision for this book. We would also like to acknowledge the
pioneering work of the indigenous nurseries of Adelaide and the support of the Urban
Forest Biodiversity Program steering committee and staff.
Book design and editing by Ecocreative® www.ecocreative.com.au
Printed in China at Everbest Printing Co. Ltd.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Bagust, Phil.
Title: The native plants of Adelaide: returning the vanishing
natural heritage of the Adelaide plains to your garden/
Phil Bagust, Lynda Tout-Smith.
Edition: 2nd ed.
ISBN: 978 1 86254 879 4 (pbk.).
Notes: Includes index.
Subjects: Endemic plants—South Australia—Adelaide Region.
Native plants for cultivation—South Australia—Adelaide Region.
Other Authors/Contributors:
Tout-Smith, Lynda.
Dewey Number:
581.99423
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Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................iv
The hidden nature of Adelaide ..............................................................................iv
Remnant vegetation .............................................................................................vii
Boundaries of coverage and chosen species .........................................................viii
Vegetation ‘associations’ ......................................................................................ix
How to use this book ............................................................................................x
The.Native.Plants.of.Adelaide:.the.plant.chapters.....................................1
Common.....................................................................................................2
Mallee.Woodlands....................................................................................42
Tall.Woodlands.........................................................................................58
Riparian....................................................................................................80
Coastal......................................................................................................94
Further reading .................................................................................................123
Propagation methods ........................................................................................124
Glossary ............................................................................................................125
Index of botanical names ...................................................................................128
Index of common names ...................................................................................130
Photography credits...........................................................................................132
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Image courtesy of the National Library oRobert Havell, ‘A view in the country’, 1
f Australia.838.
INTRODUCTION
The hidden nature of Adelaide
Quickly,.think.of.the.house.or.unit.in. large but scattered trees, a state at least
which.you.live..Now.try.to.imagine. partially attributable to the burning
the.landscape.that.existed.before. practices of the original Kaurna
Europeans.built.on.it..What.did.the. inhabitants. This open appearance, so
landscape.look.like?.Was.it.farming. attractive to the European eye, made
land?.And.before.it.was.farmed?.Was. further clearance much easier.
it.forest?.Grassland?.Wetland?.
So the answer to our original question
Few Adelaide residents (unlike those is that your dwelling was probably
of Sydney for instance, where a semi- built on arable land that had already
natural landscape still exists in many been farmed for many years. It
nooks and crannies) have much idea is no wonder that most Adelaide
of what the pre-European landscape inhabitants have little idea of what
of the Adelaide Plains was like. There the pre-European vegetation of the
are several good reasons for this. Adelaide Plains looked like, because
over vast swathes of suburbia, unless
For a start, the Adelaide Plains are,
one knows exactly where to look, it
by definition, quite flat. They are also
is basically all gone and has been for
rather fertile, and mostly have deep
over a hundred years. Add to this the
and arable soils. We have a delightful
interest in recent decades in planting
Mediterranean climate. This made the
Australian natives that may have been
Adelaide Plains extremely attractive to
sourced from regions over a thousand
the first settlers as farming land. And
kilometres away and there is little
those first settlers were motivated to
wonder that confusion exists about
farm, indeed it was the infant colony’s
the identity of the truly indigenous
raison d’etre, unlike many of the other
plants of the Adelaide Plains.
Australian states which began as penal
colonies. This is a shame, because slowly
a jigsaw puzzle is being pieced
Another reason is that much of the
together about the original Adelaide
Adelaide Plains was already quite
Plains flora that shows it must have
open prior to settlement, having a
been magnificent in a way we can
kind of parkland appearance with
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barely imagine as we look out over really was. The many small creeks now
our increasingly dense suburbia confined within concrete drains once
of townhouses and tiny courtyard overflowed each winter to gently cover
gardens. and irrigate the Adelaide Plains, and
our larger streams discharged into
The picture that emerges is one of
a vast wetland of reeds, rushes and
a complex and diverse mosaic of
sedges behind the coastal sand dunes
woodlands, with different tree species
between Brighton and Port Adelaide.
dominating in various areas. Along
This western coastal area, which must
the many streams, but stretching out
have been a wildlife wonderland, has
over the eastern Adelaide Plains, huge
now been almost obliterated.
River Red Gums and Blue Gums,
some of which still exist, would have This fantastic variety of environments,
dominated a rich grassy woodland. amongst the most diverse in South
To the west behind the coastal dunes, Australia, supported a population of
stately Native Cypress-pines and native mammals, birds and reptiles
Sheoaks dominated. South of the that would amaze most present-day
Torrens the dark-barked Eucalypt Adelaideans. Emus, goannas, quolls,
the settlers called ‘peppermint’ and bandicoots, platypuses, bettongs,
which is now known as the Grey Box wombats and even that Australian
gave the early name to the present- icon of rarity, the bilby, were plentiful
day suburb of Black Forest, while on on the Adelaide Plains prior to
the drier northern Adelaide Plains the European settlement.
closely related but smaller Mallee Box
Completing this matrix of climatic,
predominated.
soil and aspect nuances was an
Where the soils were sandier and less incredible diversity of smaller plants.
fertile, such as in parts of the north- Something like eight hundred
eastern suburbs and on coastal cliffs different species of higher plants are
south of Marino, a dense heathland of now known to have been present
colourful shrubs and sedges developed, on the Adelaide Plains at European
while along the beaches, a near settlement, and these are plants
continual sweep of coastal shrubland that we know about because they
clothed the white dunes. are still present, or because early
collectors noted them before they were
Emus,.goannas,.quolls,. destroyed. Many have been entirely
eliminated from the area. Add to that
bandicoots,.platypuses,.
list the many different plants of the
bettongs,.wombats.and.even. higher rainfall stringybark country of
that.Australian.icon.of.rarity,. the Mount Lofty Ranges, into which
Adelaide now sprawls and which
the.bilby,.were.plentiful.on.
is outside the scope of this book,
the.Adelaide.Plains.prior.to. and the total number of indigenous
plants in the region is well over a
European.settlement.
thousand. Few of these plant species
are endangered on a national level, but
If there is one thing that would
a large number of local extinctions,
surprise a contemporary Adelaidean
taking with them the unique genetic
magically transported back to 1836 it
heritage of local evolution, have
would probably be how wet much of
occurred in the Adelaide area since
the Adelaide Plains area, particularly
settlement.
that area south of the Torrens River,
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Yet how many of those thousand plant understand the meaning of a word
species are known, let alone grown, by used in our plant description, please
the gardeners of Adelaide? In recent turn to the glossary for a simple
years, pioneers like Wal Bushman, explanation.
with his booklet Wirra: The Bush that
So start your journey here, but be
was Adelaide, Ann Prescott, with her
warned, once the bug has bitten, you
popular It’s Blue with Five Petals,
are likely to stay bit! Local indigenous
Dashorst and Jessop’s Plants of the
plants are fascinating, not only in and
Adelaide Hills and Plains, and more
of themselves, but because they are
recently Darrell Kraehenbuehl, with
so little known and yet so beautiful.
his ground-breaking Pre-European
We would like to think that this book
Vegetation of Adelaide have helped fill
could play a small part in making
in the gaps for enthusiasts.
them better known to Adelaideans.
The outcome of this will not only be
Local.indigenous.plants.are.
a population who is better aware of,
fascinating,.not.only.in.and.of. and willing to lobby for protection
themselves,.but.because.they. of, the places that still exist, but a
blossoming of local bush gardens, (or
are.so.little.known.and.yet.so.
to use Wal Bushman’s appropriation
beautiful. of the Kaurna word for scrub or forest,
‘wirras’) with their bird-and insect-
Now the time has come, we believe, attracting quiet chaos and their water-
for a pocket-sized, colour guide to saving seasonal cycles of green and
the basic ‘framework’ species of the brown.
Adelaide Plains. The hundred-odd
Enjoy!
species included in this volume form
a pragmatic collection of core species Phil Bagust & Lynda Tout-Smith
for each of the five, much simplified,
general vegetation types we have
identified. If you want to start your
own garden of Adelaide indigenous
plants, this book is a good place
to begin.
We have tried to describe the plants
using common, non-botanical
language. However, in a few places
we have had no choice but to use
the botanical term. If you do not
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Remnant vegetation
It would surprise few to learn that The exact locations of the plants
in almost no area of the Adelaide mentioned and photographed in
Plains are naturally occurring, this book are not mentioned in the
local native plants still common. text, because almost all of these
Over ninety percent of the original populations are limited in size and
vegetation of the Adelaide Plains has vulnerable to over-exploitation. This is
been destroyed, and if one removes why readers are encouraged to contact
the large, relatively intact mangrove conservation bodies, indigenous
areas of the Port River estuary, that plant growers, Landcare, ‘friends
remnant fraction falls to a few percent of parks’ and other groups for more
at most. Even these areas are highly information.
fragmented shadows of their former
In the far northern and southern
selves. They are continually under
areas, remnant vegetation is still
threat from obvious and catastrophic
present along some road reserves.
disturbances such as housing
Some reserves, such as Angove Scrub,
development, road construction and
Aldinga Scrub, Ferguson, Cobbler
more stealthy but no less damaging
Creek and Sturt Gorge are state
intrusions from voracious weed
conservation and recreation parks and
species, slugs and snails, rabbits,
are well known to the public. Many
herbicides and rubbish dumping. Even
more, such as Wadmore Park in the
worthy efforts at habitat improvement
east and Tennyson Dunes in the west,
such as the Torrens Linear Park have,
are well-known and popular council
in the past, destroyed much remnant
reserves as well as being valuable plant
vegetation out of sheer ignorance
and animal habitats. However there
of what that original vegetation
are many more small council reserves
was. Often vegetation remnants are
and private lands (such as several large
reduced to occurrences of just a few
golf courses in the western suburbs)
or even one plant of a single species
where areas have been set aside for
surrounded by kilometres of suburban
conservation and regeneration and
development and exotic gardens.
where public access is discouraged or
Hopefully, as a result of this and
by permission only.
other books, ignorant and needless
destruction will start to lessen. Having said all that however,
reference to Darrell Kraehenbuehl’s
In other cases however, precious
book on the indigenous plants of the
remnants survive on government
Adelaide area, or just a careful look at
reserves, council parks, the Adelaide
the local reserves shown in the street
parklands, creek and river banks,
directory will suggest places where
cemeteries, golf courses, beaches,
indigenous plants might be hanging
sporting grounds and airports—
on for dear life, and there is nothing
anywhere that has been spared
like discovering a locally rare plant
the bulldozers. It is in these areas,
grimly surviving against the odds.
often little known to the general
public, that we have sought out and
photographed the survivors of a ‘war’
that has been waged against the native
plant ‘enemy’ since 1836.
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Boundaries of coverage and chosen species
Adelaide now sprawls along a long With one or two exceptions, plants
coastal corridor from Gawler in the that are now extinct on the Adelaide
north through to Aldinga Beach Plains, and there are unfortunately
in the south. In addition, former many, have also been excluded. In
country towns like Stirling and some cases where the plant genus
Mount Barker are rapidly becoming contains several similar species of
integrated into the metropolitan equal importance we have written
area. It would be almost impossible about the genus as a whole. As a
to provide even a basic coverage of general rule we have tried to cover
this entire area in this short guide the most commonly encountered
(the hills areas have their own quite tree, shrub, herb and grass species in
distinctive flora, as does the southern each particular vegetation type (see
area around Aldinga). In general the following section).
species depicted in this book will
In addition, there are a few types of
provide a skeleton outline of the most
plants, such as the colourful bush
prominent components of the original
peas, daisies and orchids, that are so
flora of most of the Adelaide Plains
popular we have felt compelled to
area between about the Onkaparinga
cover at least a few of each. Much of
River in the south and the Gawler
the Adelaide flora was not spectacular,
River in the north.
but had a quiet and subtle beauty of
its own. Having said that however,
To.keep.things.simple,.we.
many of our herbs, daisies, climbers
have.whittled.the.total. and lilies, although individually
having quite small flowers, would
number.of.species.down.to.
have made stunning displays in the
just.over.a.hundred. spring as colonies of thousands or
even millions of individuals flowered
As outlined above, literally hundreds en masse.
of plants could have been chosen
An Adelaide indigenous gardener
for inclusion in this book—instead,
wanting local colour in their garden
to keep things simple, we have
will never lack for choice.
whittled the total number of species
down to just over a hundred. These Essentially we hope that our selection
comprise selections of all the plant will suffice to both stimulate an
strata present: trees, shrubs, climbers, interest in identifying plants in the
herbs, groundcovers and grasses. A wild and in growing them in private
large number of worthy, ecologically and public gardens. Further research
important, but less spectacular species will provide more information about
(such as many sedges and rushes) have the hundreds of interesting and rarer
been omitted. Some species, although plants we have had to leave out of this
fascinating, were always rare and guide.
restricted in location, and these too
have been omitted.
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Vegetation ‘associations’
As suggested, the environment of the that were widespread on lighter soils
Adelaide Plains was incredibly diverse near the foothills and the Eucalyptus
prior to European settlement. Large microcarpa (Grey Box) woodlands that
variations in rainfall, temperature, were centred on the clay soils to the
exposure and aspect, soils, surface south of the Torrens River.
water availability and burning
RIPARIAN
regimes resulted in a dynamic,
This chapter includes both the true
ever-changing mosaic of wetlands,
aquatic plants of the stream bed itself,
grasslands, heathlands, shrublands
and the much larger assemblage of
and woodlands that could probably
plants that grew on the banks and
be divided into at least twenty
floodplains that were formerly far
subdivisions. For the purposes of
more extensive than they are today.
this book however, we have broken
the plant groups of the Adelaide COASTAL
Plains into five broad assemblages or This chapter includes not only the
‘associations’ simplifying the scheme specialist shrublands of the coastal
used in Darrell Kraehenbuehl’s Pre- dunes and the unique Avicennia
European Vegetation of Adelaide. Please marina (Grey Mangrove) areas of the
refer to the colour map on the inside Port River, but the Callitris gracilis
front cover of this book for a visual (Native Pine) and Allocasuarina
feel of the vegetation of the Adelaide verticillata (Drooping Sheoak)
Plains prior to European settlement. woodlands that occurred on the older
consolidated dunes behind the
The five broad associations are outlined
coastal ones.
below.
It should be noted that we have not
COMMON
included a section for grasslands.
This chapter covers common species
We are aware of the prevalence and
likely to be found on many parts of
importance of grassy vegetation on the
the Adelaide Plains.
Adelaide Plains, but for simplification
MALLEE WOODLANDS we have included grasses in the
This chapter consists of woodlands sections where we believe they most
and grassy woodlands with multi- likely would have occurred (many
stemmed Eucalypts growing on were common). In reality, many areas
mainly alkaline (lime) soils in a strip on the Adelaide Plains had few, very
from Wayville north through the widely spaced trees, with large grassy
western CBD and the Enfield area glades between them, and this fact
to a vast area on the Virginia Plains. should be considered when designing,
Smaller areas occur around Marino in for instance, a planting scheme for a
the south. garden area.
TALL WOODLANDS
This chapter brings together the
common plants of the tall woodlands
and grassy woodlands to the east and
south-east of the Adelaide CBD. It
includes the plants of the Eucalyptus
leucoxylon (SA Blue Gum) woodlands
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How to use this book
Each plant association is introduced 06 A general description of the plant
by a short essay outlining the in common language, including a
particular features that make each description of the leaves, flowers,
distinct, together with a large image fruit and seeds.
that will give a good visual impression
07 A short description of its original
of how each area looks to the visitor.
distribution in the Adelaide area.
These introductions are followed by
the plant descriptions themselves, 08 The plant’s ecological relationships,
colour-coded by association. for example, its attractiveness to
birds or insects.
Each plant entry will provide, in
order: 09 Historical human uses of the plant,
including bush food and medicine,
01 The association in which the
either to the Kaurna people or to
plant occurs (please refer to the
the subsequent European settlers.
map on the inside cover for more
Notes on Kaurna names for the
information).
plant are also included in this
02 Latin species name section.
(these change from time to time as
10 Any similar indigenous, native or
botanists re-name them; in most
introduced species with which the
cases we have tried to give the
plant could be confused.
most up-to-date names, but in a
few cases we have stuck with older 11 Information about cultivation:
but more widely accepted names). whether the plant is easily grown
from seed or cutting. (Note: this is
03 The common name or names,
not an invitation to collect plant
if they exist.
material in the wild, which is
04 The family name (plant species are generally illegal without a permit).
grouped into families). The plant’s requirements for
garden use are outlined here.
05 One or more colour photographs,
taken in natural light, illuminating
the general form of the plant, as
well as a close-up of the flower
and/or fruit if required.
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