Botany Nerds Ahoy

Distracted wrote:

Hi AW, does your new book include floating algae?
Curious for an ID on this infamous ‘red weed’. Hopefully there is enough detail in the image.

Distracted. Morning, hope ya well.
Thanks for the photo and description

I’m only a little way into book, I tend to reread everything in front of me a few times so it sinks in. I will have a browse after breakfast and get back to you as soon as possible. AW

Distracted. Definitely a rhodophytic algae. Mostly epiphytic, some not.

A few questions.

The aforementioned red algae, without you disclosing where you live, or the beach you found it, have you seen it regularly or in other places ? Can you give me a region, for example North NSW.,Central Coast NSW South Coast NSW, QLD, etc.

I ask because I think I’ve seen it here or something similar on the Surf Coast.

I’m wondering if it has been carried to your location by major currents(EAC) or local ones, is it a permanent local that you’ve only just been made aware of and is there the possibility its ended up where you found it due to some differing oceanic events of late ?
It’s very branched but looks like it was attached to some substrate be it rocks or reef(epiphyte).
The genus Bornetia looks very similar in this newly revised book.
The catch is, this genus is found mainly in WA, SA and has far east to Port Phillip, Victoria.
I’m wondering if the return journey of water flow from the EAC when returning north again is translocating plants from southern latitudes.

Or, is the red algae being transported down the East coast from warmer waters to the north ?
These are just all ideas to try and hone in on some possible answers.
Thanks AW.

Hi AW,
This red algae is from the Mid North Coast NSW, roughly from about Old Bar to South West Rocks.

Typically it is found on the beaches in spring following major cold and associated nutrient upwelling events. However, in El Niño years when there are sustained upwellings the red weed will accumulate as thick rafts along the beaches and remain for months at a time, moving up and down the beaches, depending on wind direction. I’m not sure if it grows on a substrate offshore and is then released, or if it grows in the water column.

The rafts can be very thick, forming a thick purple soup that ends up throughout wetsuit/boardshort/ shower etc. gets pretty rank. In bad years it will be pushed up the coastal creeks by the nor’easters where it can die in large quantities, leading to deoxygenated water and fish kills.

I’ll be very curious if you can nut out an ID!

Looks like the image disappeared…will have another go:

Distracted wrote:

Hi AW,
This red algae is from the Mid North Coast NSW, roughly from about Old Bar to South West Rocks.

Typically it is found on the beaches in spring following major cold and associated nutrient upwelling events. However, in El Niño years when there are sustained upwellings the red weed will accumulate as thick rafts along the beaches and remain for months at a time, moving up and down the beaches, depending on wind direction. I’m not sure if it grows on a substrate offshore and is then released, or if it grows in the water column.

The rafts can be very thick, forming a thick purple soup that ends up throughout wetsuit/boardshort/ shower etc. gets pretty rank. In bad years it will be pushed up the coastal creeks by the nor’easters where it can die in large quantities, leading to deoxygenated water and fish kills.

I’ll be very curious if you can nut out an ID!

Distracted. Hi.

That’s very helpful information you’ve provided.

I’ve been reading about the thick mats and rafts that are produced by some species,

Looks like Ekman transport is influencing this situation.

I’m impressed by this book but it doesn’t talk much about red algae occurring solely in the water column.

Alas, I’ll keeping searching for answers, I’m checking state herbaria on-line as well, there’s some pretty useful stuff available. AW

@Velocityjohnno.

Hi mate I thought of you a few days ago.

Here’s one of your towers near Balladonia, every time I passed another, I thought, VJ built that..

You must have loved your jobs in that part of our southern region of Australia.

Way east of Perth, these beauties started to appear on their preferred geology.
Simply majestic in all aspects. I love them.

seeds wrote:

Majestic upright gum AW. Colourful bark with the sun on it.

Seeds. Hi mate. The colour of that bark is a clue to its identity. I’m sure VJ with all his travels/work in that region will know what it is. AW

seeds wrote:

Taken today as far south you can drive in Australia. I’ve got no idea.
Alfred?

Seeds. Hi . Are you at South Cape, Tasmania ?

Ozothamnus turbinatus Coastal Everlasting it’s a member of the daisy family, Asteraceae my friend. AW

Hi Alfred, thanks for the pic! Yes that was on the list, near where our run started and headed east. I've got a solid respect for their infrastructure out there, all solar powered and well designed to do what it needs to.

And that red gum, geez that country from Kal south to east of Norseman is just so pretty, especially in the late afternoon light. Edit: I'm not sure of the name tbh, it's a type of mallee? Anyway, unique to the area.

Keep up with the dune plants, my favourite critters near the shore. Did you know all eucalypts come from the coastal heaths, they spread from there to make up 95% of the country's flora, aided by their fire-propagation proclivities?

& seeds that is a very special area! Are you going further west than Lion Rock?

Excellent, have fun! Have a gander for Frenchman's Cap on the way over, hopefully you get a clear day to see it.

Currawong antics:

Young Star flys onto the gutter and chunders down onto the grass. Goes down, eats some up, leaves some for all the finches and piwis and bush rats later. Then his mate Clyde flys down and there's a food stand off. Star then gets some chunder and tries to stash it in the top of the rain gauge.

velocityjohnno wrote:

Hi Alfred, thanks for the pic! Yes that was on the list, near where our run started and headed east. I've got a solid respect for their infrastructure out there, all solar powered and well designed to do what it needs to.

And that red gum, geez that country from Kal south to east of Norseman is just so pretty, especially in the late afternoon light. Edit: I'm not sure of the name tbh, it's a type of mallee? Anyway, unique to the area.

Keep up with the dune plants, my favourite critters near the shore. Did you know all eucalypts come from the coastal heaths, they spread from there to make up 95% of the country's flora, aided by their fire-propagation proclivities?

VelocityJohnno. Hi mate. Hope you are well.

The tree is Eucalyptus salmonophloia Salmon Gum.

Salmons Gums the small town has taken its name from the tree.

They are not mallees even though other mallee species occur in the greater vicinity.
Trees like Eucalyptus salubris Gimlet, have amazingly coloured bronze/green fluted trunks when wet (a great diagnostic tool) and are a type of mallee.

Mallee Eucalyptus sp. are multi stemmed , emanating from a basal lignotuber, no single trunks apparent.. A pure survival mechanism for stem replacement after physical damage or when fire eliminates all vegetative parts.

Eucalyptus evolved from being in or on the edge of rainforest, wet areas near and or associated with damp edged heathlands.

Eucalyptus evolved at higher latitudes say closer to the South Pole at present. As the continent broke away from Antarctica and drifted/moved north, the land masses dried and Eucalyptus began its long evolutionary trend to occupying drier climes.
Progenitors for the genus Eucalyptus still survive today.

The four evolutionary rainforest contributors are; Allosyncarpia ternata, found only in Northern Territory, Stockwellia quadrifida found only in Far North Queensland, Eucalyptopsis sp. from Malesia, PNG and the Moluccas in the Banda Sea, Indonesia and lastly the actual relictual ancestor of all Eucalyptus is Arillastrum gummiferum found in New Caledonia.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see Stockwellia, Allosyncarpia, but not Eucalyptopsis and Arillastrum.

For 2026 I’ve pre booked through bird/plant guides to visit New Caledonia to surf and to see Arillastrum gummiferum, I simply cant wait to see and realise a dream of mine to see the plant that was the beginning of all Eucalyptus sp. AW

seeds wrote:

Hi Alfred. Nearly South Cape. At Cockle Creek. Was a nice sunny day yesterday. Enjoyed a swim at the sparkling beach there.
ps daisy family! Who would’ve thought?

Seeds . Have a wonderful time. As you know, it’s always about the flowers when discerning the Family. Good stuff. AW

AlfredWallace wrote:

seeds wrote:

Taken today as far south you can drive in Australia. I’ve got no idea.
Alfred?

Seeds. Hi . Are you at South Cape, Tasmania ?

Ozothamnus turbinatus Coastal Everlasting it’s a member of the daisy family, Asteraceae my friend. AW

Addendum.
Further reading tells me;
Ozothamnus has many species in southern Tassie, your photo is either O.reticulatus or O.ferrugineus , personally I think it’s the later. AW.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-31/bob-brown-judge-logging-suspensio...

basesix wrote:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-31/bob-brown-judge-logging-suspensio...

Basesix. Hi mate.
Thanks for reminding us of how poor the Tasmanian Government handles all matters pertaining to the environment.
Many national and international tourists go to Tasmania to immerse themselves in the natural world .
This Swift Parrot situation as well as the Orange Bellied Parrot one are just reminders of how sensitive it all is.

Before you know it there will be ‘nothing to see here folks ‘ move right along now.
The two aforementioned birds are Australia’s only migratory parrots, regularly crossing Bass Strait.

You can add to this discussion the putrid Salmon farms in Macquarie Harbour as well. Such short term views and narrow minded planning lacking foresight.
( The good fella Mick Lawrence is all over that situation)

Ive said it before and I will say it again, we are not that smart.AW

seeds wrote:

Did the Macquarie Habour and Gordon River cruise today. Plenty of Salmon/trout pens around. Captain/ tour guide polished that turd pretty good. None the less I enjoyed it and the river upstream looks sublime. Well done Bob Brown and cohorts back then.

Seeds. How nice, sounds like you guys are having a wonderful time and seeing great stuff.
We know there’s better ways to generate an economy, but we always tend to go for the wrong ones, short term and in your face today, let’s worry about it in the future, that’s the Australian way.
Your cruise sounds great except for the ‘turd burgular who likes to polish.

Have been astounded by the numbers of Red Tailed Black Cockatoos over here I see on a daily basis.
Mate and I saw 7 Carnaby's Black Cockatoos a week ago, made my whole trip.
Poor buggers, both species spend their days flying from one area with few remaining woody trees that bear seeds to another, their habitats are diminishing and closing in on the edge of large cities and regional areas. Gotta think positive though for a change. AW

seeds wrote:

These red tailed cockatoos are they the same as the masses of them that were all around my oldies at Alligator Creek? Somewhat more impressive than the yellow tails we get at home.

I’ll Google Carnaby’s to check them out

Seeds. Your photo, they are Red Tailed Black Cockatoos, big tail panels red.
These birds are slightly bigger than Glossy Black Cockatoos that also have some red but not as apparent as the former birds at your parent’s geographic location.
Alas, Glossy’s do occur more sporadically in the same area.

Carnaby’s and Baudins Black Cockatoos both having white tail panels are basically the WA equivalent to Eastern states Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos, all from the same newly revised genus Zanda. Colour preference is personal and subjective , they are all beautiful from where I’m looking!!!.AW

Celery-top pine? Edit: 2 posts back

This is a really good resource. Don’t tell Alfred, he wouldn’t approve.
https://identify.plantnet.org

Seeds looks like Banksia marginata aka Silver Banksia to me. AW might be able to confirm

Or deny

Yeah come across them a bit.
Smaller than the integrifolia but much better for residential gardens

seeds wrote:

Here’s some for you Alfred. And others
This one looks like a pine ie trunk, bark and branches. But the leaves?

Seeds, Goofyfoot, Blackers. Now that’s a good botany trio. Hope you are all well.
Just stepped in from a waders count all weekend, flew home Friday. Spewing, totally committed to Saturday waders count, all the while 6-8ft NW and pumping.

Definitely Phyllocladus aspleniifolius Celery Top Pine. Family Podocarpaceae

Relictual beauty hanging over from Gondwanan times. ‘ species name aspleniifolius taken from the fern genus Asplenium sp because the leaves look like that species of fern.

This is not a true pine from the Pinaceae family. We all mostly know that. AW

seeds wrote:

This banksia had really small flowers. Much smaller than coastal types I’m used too. Not in abundance either

Seeds, Goofyfoot, Blackers. Definitely Banksia marginata Silver Banksia.
Ubiquitous in South Eastern Australia and Tassie. A great plant for a garden or a complete landscape. One of my all time favourites. AW

seeds wrote:

This one looks coniferish but no idea

Seeds, Goofyfoot, Blackers. Another wonderful relic from the past.

Athrotaxis selaginoides King Billy Pine , one of our old links to the Cypress family
Cupressaceae.
This is a true conifer ( bearing cones) species name broken up into two parts. Selaginella is a type of clubmoss/spikemoss and in Latin ‘oides’ means of or like.
So, the Athrotaxis has foliage that looks the leaves of a Selaginella plant.
Great stuff. AW

I’m constantly rotating/updating my library.
Just got this in the post last week, fully revised and current,

I have the previous edition, if anyone would like it, yell out , give me a postal address and I’ll send it to you. Spread the vibe and the love. AW

NIce one Alfred, King BIlly Pine I have heard of but never seen. Until Seeds posted it that is!

Seeds. Hi mate, you are covering some ground in some beautiful places.

BTW, thanks for the great photos of the plants, good shots representing diagnostic features that makes identification much easier. All the best AW.

seeds wrote:

Dunce corner for me. Walk here called King Billie walk. Others are named after trees. ie. Pencil Pine Walk
ps you taught me about leaves and especially flowers in identification

Seeds. I think you are underselling your skills and knowledge base, you’re a prolific poster of interesting birds and plants and other biological beauties, I enjoy it all, so do others. Much longer in Tassie ?

If you are in the NW at all, Sisters Beach has fascinating botany, especially the relictual stands of very old Bankia serrata Saw Banksia, they are a genetic continuum hungover from the last ice age when you could walk from Port Moresby PNG to Hobart, the large stands up and down the Eastern seaboard are their relatives. AW

seeds wrote:

Alfred. We dropped into Sisters Beach. Another amazing beach and you’re right it was like a banksia jungle there. Biggest tallest I’ve seen.

Seeds. So good. Ricky Cape area, outstanding also. I was there 19 years ago I was there over Xmas and New Year, took a awhile to comprehend that they were there in the first place, scratched my head at first, then had to think back to previous land changes (ice age, geologic etc. ) to fully understand how they came to be there.
Further reading when back home made for a greater appreciation of the events that had been undertaken. AW

seeds wrote:

Couple of Ben Lomond plants

The plant at the bottom is the Ben Lomond Snowgentian ( Gentianella diemensis subsp.plantaginea)

Beautiful plant, covered in snow for most of the year . In Summer, making hay whilst the sun shines, so to speak..AW

seeds wrote:

Couple of Ben Lomond plants

Seeds. Top two photos, same plant, looks like Astroloma hummifusum, Cranberry Heath, from memory it’s had a recent name change to the genus Styphelia.
They are heath plants, once members of the Epacridaceae family ( southern hemisphere equivalent to the northern hemisphere Ericaceae family), now all grouped into the latter, doesn’t sit well with me but who am I to argue with DNA. AW

This is an interesting read on plant flammability. Pertinent for many. Surprising that so little research has been done on this. We covered fire ecology back in the day, following up the Ash Wednesday bushfires. Clearly still much to learn.
https://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2023/tree-flammability/