Botany Nerds Ahoy

seeds wrote:

Yeah I know stamens. I suppose I thought they may have been called something else on trees. I suppose a flower is a flower.

Yes, same same. Just very pronounced on that one, and most gums.

seeds wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

seeds wrote:

Is one of them a lemon myrtle, AW?
Third one.

Seeds. Hi mate. Amongst all the photos I’ve posted today, there’s actually two Hakea sp. Ive mentioned one, there’s another. See if you can identify it.AW

Top one above the Lemon Myrtle? Guessing on the growth habit of the branches.

Seeds. Incorrect mate. Hakes sp. can have large flowers as well as very small ones. They are quite woody for both small shrubs and small trees, might be a clue. Hakea sp. are in the Proteaceae family , so think of some floral features you may see on a Protea or related plant flower.AW.

Here's one for you Alfred.

Had a chance to do some macro photography during lockdown.
A clearer shot of above.

blackers wrote:

Here's one for you Alfred.

Blackers. Hi mate. Dianella sp. Native Flax Lily. We all know Dianella revoluta ,could be one of many. Depends where the photo was taken(great photo by the way). AW

It is D. revoluta, taken in my garden, just across the bay from where you were walking this am.

seeds wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

2nd guess going by the flower bud? that the flower petals are cupped by.

Seeds. It’s the last photo of that last reel, small curly like white flowers, the woody fruits of Hakea.sp are very good diagnostic aids,

Hakea decurrens ssp.physocarpa . common Bushy Needlewood. Good work.AW

blackers wrote:

It is D. revoluta, taken in my garden, just across the bay from where you were walking this am.

Blackers. Your macro photography is impressive, great detail clarity. Been at it long ? AW

bonza wrote:

this side of the range? i'll take the above any day over the vine weeds. madeira & cats claw. poor rivers have no chance. not good.

Bonza. Hi mate. Yeah, same here, I’m disgusted daily by the amount of exotic terrestrial and aquatic weeds I see wherever I walk or drive, regardless of where I am in OZ, it’s like nobody gives a fuck. Recently, we let apples in from NZ for the first time, now our orchard industries live with the real threat of ‘blight’ . The aquarium industry needs an overhaul, they get all manner of aquatic fish and plants in. The biological world doesn’t identify borders or boundaries, cellular life is always opportunistic, ready to exploit any niche. AW

Great shot Blackers.

Here you go Freeride, a subtropical coastal species. Fruit’s don’t last long at the moment with the local male bowerbird into them.

Originally picked this plant up from Landcare as tube stock and it has kicked on nicely. Have replanted half a dozen self seeded seedlings elsewhere in the garden.

I've seen it before, I recognise it.

I cannot name it.

Very lovely Blackers.

freeride76 wrote:

I've seen it before, I recognise it.

I cannot name it.

Freeride76. Hi. Would you mind if i have a guess ?. AW.

Hell no AW- please do!

My botany knowledge is dire- I'm better with algae- much better with animals.

freeride76 wrote:

Hell no AW- please do!

My botany knowledge is dire- I'm better with algae- much better with animals.

Freeride76. Hi. Thanks. Well, next few days I’ll post some algae from around the Surf Coast. I love algae’s diversity.Thanks again. AW

See how you go with this one Alfred.
Not native.

Distracted wrote:

Here you go Freeride, a subtropical coastal species. Fruit’s don’t last long at the moment with the local male bowerbird into them.

Originally picked this plant up from Landcare as tube stock and it has kicked on nicely. Have replanted half a dozen self seeded seedlings elsewhere in the garden.

Distracted. Hi mate. Here goes. Is it Alectryon coriaceus -Beach Birds Eye ? AW.

blackers wrote:

See how you go with this one Alfred.
Not native.

Distracted. Those flowers could be minute or large. Do you know the country of origin ? Thanks AW

AlfredWallace wrote:

blackers wrote:

See how you go with this one Alfred.
Not native.

Distracted. Those flowers could be minute or large. Do you know the country of origin ? Thanks AW

Distracted. Ixora sp. ? Wild guess.AW

AlfredWallace wrote:

blackers wrote:

See how you go with this one Alfred.
Not native.

Distracted. Those flowers could be minute or large. Do you know the country of origin ? Thanks AW

Sorry,Blackers sent it to Distracted by mistake. AW.

About an inch in diameter each Alfred, South American provenance and very common I’m led to believe. I’m deliberately being unfair too, picking something left field. Also wanted to try out a new focus stacking technique and these fellas get me every time, like something from Fantasia.

I'm guessing it's some kind of orchid.

blackers wrote:

About an inch in diameter each Alfred, South American provenance and very common I’m led to believe. I’m deliberately being unfair too, picking something left field. Also wanted to try out a new focus stacking technique and these fellas get me every time, like something from Fantasia.

Blackers. I’d be only guessing. Dicot or monocot ? But, i dont ever give up, otherwise i would’ ve learnt nothing. Floral arrangement looks a bit monocot., got a Zoom meeting in 5 mins. I’ll be back after 9pm. Thanks AW.

tubeshooter wrote:

I'm guessing it's some kind of orchid.

Yup.

Crucifix orchid isn't it?

freeride76 wrote:

Crucifix orchid isn't it?

Freeride76. Spot on mate. Epidendrum sp. How good was that photo from Blackers. You can even see the ‘scariness’ in that crucifix. Lit up like candles in a church. AW

AlfredWallace wrote:

Distracted. Hi mate. Here goes. Is it Alectryon coriaceus -Beach Birds Eye ? AW.

That’s the one AW. Nice little littoral rainforest species.

Good work, Epidendrum radicans.

seeds wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

seeds wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

2nd guess going by the flower bud? that the flower petals are cupped by.

Seeds. It’s the last photo of that last reel, small curly like white flowers, the woody fruits of Hakea.sp are very good diagnostic aids,

Hakea decurrens ssp.physocarpa . common Bushy Needlewood. Good work.AW

Alfred, do these grow up here in wallum areas? Saw them everywhere today. Where I went for a walk anyway.

Seeds Hi mate. I’m really enjoying all this botanical stuff, hope others are as well. Fun easy learning.
Pimelea sp. The Rice Flowers.
The one I posted is Pimelea humilis .
I often see in the field down here in remnant non-cleared land the beautiful Pimelea curviflora

In WA Pimelea ferruginea has been a landscapers special across most temperate states.

The one that gets me for beauty is one I pressed for my herbarium a long time ago, Pimelea linifolia ssp.linifolia. It was from 10acres of bush I had on the Surf Coast. AW.

seeds wrote:

I’ll take some pics next time. There was a very similar shrub with yellow flowers also. Seen all this for ever. God, I hope I’m not becoming a plant nerd.

Seeds. I hope you become one !!!!. After all, you chose that moniker. It’s all interconnected and helps a better understanding of all things biological. If you get the opportunity take snaps of plants you don’t know, Im sure someone amongst us will identify them. I had a lecturer in the early 80’s at Hort. College. He said to me one day. ‘Don’t ever walk past a plant that you can’t identify, cos, the next time you walk past it, you still wont know what it is. I heeded that advice AW.

Blackers. You introduced an introduced plant. Here is one from South Africa that is popular here with landscapers. AW

Dont recognize the plant Alfred but I do recognize the house. Nice outlook from there.
Edit: Internet says Dierama or Galdiolus sp. Should be on the fisho's thread.

blackers wrote:

Dont recognize the plant Alfred but I do recognize the house. Nice outlook from there.
Edit: Internet says Dierama or Galdiolus sp. Should be on the fisho's thread.

Blackers. Hi. House facing east, beautiful mornings at that location. Dierama pulcherrimum Fairy Wands, Fairy Fishing Rods or Fishing rods, great plant in dry or damp landscapes, flowering to 1.2-1.5m in height. AW

Kind of on topic

Hows that crew in Victoria who they suspect died from eating the wrong mushrooms.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-08/victoria-mushroom-poison-meal-dea...

Blows me away to think as a kid i use to go out with my grandpa mushroom picking and get buckets full, then go home and make all these mushroom stews etc

One time when we went to their house when i was about 10 there must have been the odd poisonous one in the stew and some of us got really sick, never really been that keen on them since.

yeh, mad story indo.. midsomer murders.. such a 50s thing to do, all the boomers I know grew up mushrooming (and rabbiting, fishing, blackberries, etc) through a certain necessity, they took us as kids too till all their marriages fell apart, but they wouldn't go near a pine-forest for grocery-shopping these days.. probably sound unless you are confident as hell, or have been to the spot many, many times previously.

Yeah always loved getting black berries too, on the drive home from the city a few years back i saw a whole heap and kept on annoying my wife stopping and picking them, then she pointed out these signs saying black berries may be sprayed, it was a bit of a conundrum on if i should risk eating them or not, but decided to ditch them otherwise if i got sick id never hear the end of it from my wife.

In Tassie we use to beach net for mullet & cocky salmon too, it was a real community thing that was pretty cool..

Indo & Basesix. Hi. Psilocybin’s, proceed with caution. Gold Tops, Blue Meanies etc. Nobody should ever consume fungi from in and around Pinus radiata Monterey Pine plantations. The fly agaric (Amanita muscaria ) ,the one with the white warty like dots on an orange/red background, death is a serious consequence.
When i was 18 i was at a party in Jan Juc, house crew had been collecting magic mushies somewhere out on the Stoney Rises.. There was a dart board on the back of the kitchen door which was closed because it was late autumn/winter. I was off my chops and as i watched the darts being thrown, it appeared like there were 200 darts all going in and onto the tail of each other dart before hitting the board, freaky.
Later that evening as it was getting rowdy, someone came from the hallway screaming and yelling there’s fucking ants crawling everywhere, fucking ants, close the doors, quick , back to kitchen. In time we all had a look, and came out saying the same thing.
Next morning i checked the hallway and the day before someone had dropped a large paper bag containing loose leaf black tea.
Unsaddled youth, but it was fun, but none of that anymore.AW

Haha, nice memory, AW. Microdosing is the new get-shroomed-of-yer-tits-and-think-that-loose-leaf-tea-is-getting-into-the-jam-and-cake-decorations. Everything in moderation it seems these days : )

basesix wrote:

Haha, nice memory AW. Microdosing is the new get-shroomed-of-yer-tits-and-think-that-loose-leaf-tea-is-getting-into-the-jam-and-cake-decorations. Everything in moderation it seems these days : )

Basesix. Problem with psilocybin species is that you have them, endure the long brain fluctuations for 5-8 hours , finally it starts to wear off and you think thank fuck for that, but often what happened is it stalls awhile and then kicks right back in again, nightmare. AW

Haha, nice tale Alfred. We used to pick mushrooms around Red Hill way back in the day. Used to sell bags of them to passing drivers on the Nepean Highway. Mate's old man used to pay for his ciggies out of the proceeds, I can't remember what was in it for us! The recent news and discussions have made me wonder if we dodged a bullet.

Blackers, so true.
Last years crop of a similar theme we’ve discussed.AW

Is it legal to grow them?

I remember in Tassie they grew field's of them for medical industry, it was highly illegal but friends jumped in and got some and tried to use them.(i think boiled, although i think you get the sap by cutting and letting weep or something)

Sadly one of the girls who back then was only about 16 got into every drug under the sun eventually became a junkie burnt all her friends and died before 30 of i think Kidney failure or similar.

Very sad she was a good chick and a keen surfer long before many girls surfed.

blackers wrote:

Haha, nice tale Alfred. We used to pick mushrooms around Red Hill way back in the day. Used to sell bags of them to passing drivers on the Nepean Highway. Mate's old man used to pay for his ciggies out of the proceeds, I can't remember what was in it for us! The recent news and discussions have made me wonder if we dodged a bullet.

And you never heard from those customers again ;)

indo-dreaming wrote:

Is it legal to grow them?

I remember in Tassie they grew field's of them for medical industry, it was highly illegal but friends jumped in and got some and tried to use them.(i think boiled, although i think you get the sap by cutting and letting weep or something)

Sadly one of the girls who back then was only about 16 got into every drug under the sun eventually became a junkie burnt all her friends and died before 30 of i think Kidney failure or similar.

Very sad she was a good chick and a keen surfer long before many girls surfed.

Indo-Dreaming.

Its legal at my place. I couldn’t give a fuck about authorities.

Put me up in front of a court, I’ll have ‘em all addicted (for its ornamental value) by smoko.

Done it all Indo, playing with plants is learning. I’ve scribed them, processed the pink/white latex etc. I’ve got a golf ball size of resin, enough to sink a football team. I’m no fool, I put a pin head dot on my tongue one day, La La land for two hours. That’s it.
Not a plant to play with , just look at it. It’s the foliage I love, the ‘silver green’ (argent/verde) colour, nothing else like it.
Wash hands after handling the plant, the white latex contained in the vascular system will blind you if you rub your eyes.
Almost all heavy duty pain killers are derived from Opium Poppy ( Papaver somniferum) , most folk would know that.
Ah, the world of plants. ‘ Give me a home amongst the Gum trees’

I love plants, I could talk to any authority about the biochemical nature of alkaloid opiates and so on. Ornamentally look great in flower in our veggie garden, they are great at attracting both native and exotic bees.