Category Archives: Plants

Not kissing anybody under this lot

Posted on Monday, 2 April 2012 by

In Australia we have something like 90 species of mistletoe, unlike Europe which has only one (Viscum album), the one with white flower traditionally smooched under at Christmas. But in Australia we don’t have a tradition of kissing under mistletoe, … Continue reading →

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Orchid – Dipodium

Posted on Saturday, 10 March 2012 by

Orchids are flowering lately … here’s one courtesy of the mountain behind our place. I didn’t see the orchid myself, but according to PlantNet there are five pink Dipodium species in New South Wales. The distribution maps don’t point to … Continue reading →

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An Australian native ground orchid

Posted on Saturday, 10 March 2012 by

Brigitte, who lives about 20 minutes’ drive from me at Barker’s Vale,, was kind enough to let me have these photos she took of Epipogium roseum, a native Australian ground orchid, on her property. Brigitte says there are only three … Continue reading →

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A walk in the bush (part 3 of 3)

Posted on Thursday, 3 November 2011 by

Continuing from part 1 and part 2 … Here’s a couple of insects before we return to the plants …

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A walk in the bush (part 1 of 3)

Posted on Wednesday, 2 November 2011 by

Recently I was invited to go with friends Mandy, Amy and Jackie on a bushwalk on the mountain behind where I live. It’s private property, and it’s always good to see such places when you get the chance. We walked … Continue reading →

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Bundjalung National Park – bloomin’ lovely

Posted on Saturday, 22 October 2011 by

Bundjalung National Park takes its name from the Aboriginal nation whose country this area. It’s coastal heath. We recently explored the northern-most part of the park – see this map. There’s a wild headland (Goanna Headland, an Aboriginal special place) … Continue reading →

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The weeds and the wilderness

Posted on Friday, 15 July 2011 by

Once again, I’ve been proofreading the thirdly (is that a word? – not quarterly but three times a year) newsletter of the Big Scrub Rainforest Landcare group. The editor does a great job of pulling together or writing articles on … Continue reading →

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The trouble with common names

Posted on Wednesday, 6 July 2011 by

Whenever I see an advertisement for the Cunjevoi restaurant, I have to stop and think twice. The first impression is not exactly tasty – the cunjevoi (Pyura stolonifera) is a salty, tough animal (a tunicate) that lives in colonies on … Continue reading →

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A bush tucker plant

Posted on Sunday, 19 December 2010 by

At the Uki market yesterday, I bought some native seedlings – I have 20 acres, so plenty of room, although 10 acres or so is dry sclerophyll eucalptus with subtropical gullies (the result of land clearing, then banana farming, then … Continue reading →

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Bloomin’ dancin’ orchids

Posted on Monday, 13 December 2010 by

While it’s not exactly the Amazon here, orchids love the summer rain and humidity. My ‘dancing lady’ orchids are flowering – one long flower spike with oodles of exquisite yellow and brown flowers. They were kindly given to me by … Continue reading →

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