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Another allusive flower for me was Acronychia oblongifolia, which has now been photographed at The Pinnacles was a welcome sight to follow from bud to flower.

Recently photographed Ehretia acuminata subsp. acuminata in flower and now know why it is so difficult to catch. The flower buds open with the flowers fading within a week. The beauty of having the plants in the garden as Theophrastus noted, “You don’t have to trek for days to study them.” It is also relevant to note if you do not get the photo you need it’s just a matter of stepping outside and doing the shoot again. And again, and again if necessary. Now to follow the fertilized flowers through to the green fruits then seed dispersal.

Cupaniopsis: [ku-pa-ni-op-sis] Is named in honour of Fransesco Cupania; 1657-1710, who was an Italian botanist and Opsis which is Ancient Greek for to take the shape or form of. It refers to the trees resembling the Cupania genus in North America, which was named prior to the Australian genus being discovered. A good example is Cupaniopsis
anarcharioides.

Anacardioides: [an-a-kar-di-oi-deez] From Anakardia, which is Ancient Greek for the cashew nut and Eîdos/Oîdes, which are Ancient Greek suffixes for alike or similar to. It refers to the close resemblance of the leaves and flowers to the Anacardium genus. A good example is Cupaniopsis anachariodes.

Well I am back on line after a long spell of updating the 26,000 plant names in the glossary to make them simpler and easier to pronounce. Many readers remarked on the difficulty they had in speaking the Ancient Greek, Latin and other languages into our Aussie Lingo. The best secret is to only use the lower case Roman alphabet a, b, c etc. not A,B,C. “a” is said as a in cat or bat. ‘ph” in Ancient Greek is said as a “f” – physics and ‘c’ and”ch” are said as “k” – competitor and chemist. See you already knew a lot of Ancient Greek words.

Unfortunately in modern speaking some words are changing. Many people now say kyoo-pan-i-op-sis instead of cu-pan-i-op-sis.

Again thanks to Susan Roberts for her photo of a mature Cupaniopsis anachariodes on the Manning River NSW.

Flindersia xanthoxyla showing a straight, non fibrous bole.

Carpobrotus virescens – Native Pig face with excellent fleshy leaves with non volatile oils as a ground cover.

Einadia hastata depicting fleshy leaves with a saline content.

14.03.2024 back on line at last and hope to have more items more often thanks to David from DNCS – David Nysen Computer Services. I will start with 4 photos from Fire Retardant Plants.

11.12.2023 1 photo of Monolepta australis and flowering times.

The style is less than 2mm in length. The flowers are reported to appear from August to November, however I have found the trees start flowering as early as late May here at The Pinnacles through to early October in different seasons. Though small, the yellowish-green, profusion of flowers will be noticed by the delightful honey scented fragrance they emit. Our nine trees never flower at the same time which means we have an extended flowering and fruiting period over several months. We have recorded the first flowers starting as early as the 22nd of May and commencing as late as late August and finishing in early October. The trees in any single season commence flowering up to five weeks after the first tree flowers.

Cupaniopsis anachardioides’ is one of those trees that is very much under rated by gardeners but responds very favourably to a gardener’s attention. Try using the trees in irregular patterns on the lawn or as a central feature of two or three trees. Branches can be trimmed from an early stage to allow quicker growth so you can walk below the trees and enjoy the shade they provide or do some gardening. Do not force the trees in their early stages of establishment as it can become top heavy and lean over or have branches snap off. The trees are considered a noxious weed in several states in America and I have found after 15 years many seedlings around the property which I have removed indicating it could become troublesome if not handled correctly.

The Macropus rufogriseus (red neck wallaby) has been observed feeding on the new growth and flowers that it can reach so may eat seedlings that emerge.

Danni Church https://anpsa.org.au/plant_profiles/anigozanthos-manglesii/

Photo 1 Ashley Field – Cooktown Orchid, Queensland and Cooktown City Council’s floral emblems.

Photo 2 Danni Church – Green Kangaroo Paw, Western Australia’s floral emblem.

Photo 3 Brian Walters – Sturt’s Desert Pea South Australia’s floral emblem.

05.12.2023 added photos of Grevillea banksii with Acrobates pygmaeus.

05.12.2023 added photos of Platysace heterophylla.

05.12.2023 added photo of Jagerra pseudorhus.

Jagera pseudorhus’sfruit is an ovoid capsule. The capsules measure 15mm to 20mm in length by 13mm to 18mm in diameter. They are densely covered in long, stiff, rusty-red to rusty-orange hirtellous hairs. The green capsules turn a deep crimson then finally to a bright orange or orange-yellow as the fruits ripen. The woody to fleshy capsules dehisce into 3 valves to reveal three deep brown to black glabrous, glossy seeds embedded in an internal layer of rusty hirtellous hairs. The ovoid to oblong seeds measure 6mm to 7.5mm in length by 4mm to 5mm diameter. The small white aril is basil.

Wildlife:

Jagera pseudorhus’s seeds are eaten by several larger honeyeaters like the Noisy friar bird Philemon corniculatusnoisy, Noisy minor Manorina melanocephala, satin bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus violaceus and the Queensland Rifle bird Ptiloris paradiseus.

Propagation:

Seeds: Jagera pseudorhus seeds need to be fresh preferably picked from the tree when fully ripe or freshly dropped to the ground, remove the seeds from the capsules being careful not to get the irritating hairs on the skin and remove the aril from the seed for better results.

The seeds need to be sown within two weeks and can be sown directly into a seed raising mix. Cover them with 5mm to 6mm of fine weed free mulch and keep moist. Place the tray in a warm sunny position. When the seedlings are 20mm to 30mm tall, prick them out and plant them into 50mm native tubes using a good organic mix.

Once the seedlings reach 100mm to 150mm in height they can be planted out into their permanent position.

Fertilize using Seaweed, fish emulsion or organic chicken pellets soaked in water and apply the liquid on an alternate basis. Fertilize every 2 months until the plants are well established then on an annual basis in September or March to maintain good health, vigour and better flowering.

05.12.2023 added photo of Myoporum betcheanum.

05.12.2023 added photo of kunzea opposita in fruit.

05.12.2023 added photo of Leptospermum trinervium with Eopsaltria australis on nest.

05.12.2023 made several changes to the Glossary after David pointed out some errors and information for there correction. Thanks David.

Abellianus: [ah-bel-li-ei-nuh s] Abell is named in honour of brothers Warren Wilbow Abell, 1926-1983, and Thomas Abell, 1913-2000 and Anus, which is Latin for of or from. A good example is the ground orchid Corybas abellianus.

Abergiana: [ah-ber-ji-ei-nuh] Is named in honour of Ernesti Georg Aberg, 1823–1907 who was a Swedish physician who was the first to cultivate Eucalyptus sp. in the regions other than the La Plata-River, subjected numerous species to his observations there and published a fruitful book, “Irrigacion y Eucalyptus, Buenos Aires, 1874” and Anus, which is Latin for of or from. A good example is Corymbia abergiana.

Adamii: [ad-am-see-ahy] Is named in honour of Diasperus adamius. It was originally described by Ferdinand Von Mueller as Synostemon glaucus and was found in the dry plains and hills of Arnhem’s Land, close to the Mac Adam Range, Point Pearce and Providence Hill.” A good example was Diasperus adamii, which is now known as Sauropus glaucus.

28.11.2023. Article with photos on Stenocarpus angustifolius.

Stenocarpus angustifolius

Classification:

Unranked: Eudicots

Order: Proteales

Family: Proteaceae

Subfamily: Grevilleoideaae

Genus: From Stenos, which is Ancient Greek for narrow and Karpós, which is Ancient Greek for a fruit. It refers to the fruits, which are rather slender.

Specie: Angustifolius: [an-gus-ti-foh-li-us] From Angusta, which is Latin for narrow and Folium, which is Latin for foliage. It refers to leaves, which are rather narrow but not linear.

Sub specie:

Common Name: Narrow leaf Stenocarpus.

Distribution:

Stenocarpus angustifolius is found in far north eastern Queensland in two distinct disjunct populations. West of Cairnes it is located between the Atherton Tablelands south east to wild River. Around Townsville it is found from the Harvey Range to Reid river Gorge.

https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=Stenocarpus+angustifolius#tab_mapView

Habitat Aspect Climate:

Stenocarpus angustifolius prefer full shade to bright filtered sunlight. It grows in moist, warm tropical rainforest, warm subtropical rainforests on adjacent ranges to the coast. The altitude ranges from 80 meters ASL to 900 meters ASL.

The temperatures range from 3 degrees in August to 39 degrees in January.

The rainfalls range from lows of 900mm to 1400mm average per annum.

Soil Requirements:

Stenocarpus angustifolius prefer to grow on better quality sandy loams to medium clays at the edge of dry rainforests or moist, open woodlands. The soils are usually derived from decomposed black basalt. The soils pH ranges from 5pH to 6pH. It does not tolerate water logged soils however the soils have good moisture retentive characteristics. Non saline soils to slightly saline soils are tolerated.

Height & Spread:

Wild Plants: 4m to 5m by 4m to 5m

Characteristics:

Stenocarpus angustifolius grows as a large shrub with deep brown to almost black, smooth bark. Old trees may be slightly buttressed right at the base. The mid green stems are sparsely covered in fine white hirsute hairs soon becoming glabrous.

Young trees and those with coppice regrowth have finely divided trifoliate leaves. The leaves measure 45mm to 60mm in length by 5mm to 8mm in width. The petioles measure 30mm to 60mm in length.

While immature plants have trifoliate leaves, mature plants will have both trifoliate and simple leaves on the same plant. The simple, alternate, lanceolate leaves of Stenocarpus angustifolius measure 50mm to 185mm in length by 8mm to 12mm in width. The glabrous, terete petiole measures 70mm to 100mm in length. The bases taper to the petiole while the apexes areacute. The concolourous laminas are mid to pale grass-green, semi glossy and glabrous on the upper lamina while the lower lamina is slightly duller. The margins are entire on both immature and mature leaves. The mid vein is slightly prominent on the lower lamina and near the base. The lateral veins are very fine.

The pale yellow, cream or at times white conflorescences of Stenocarpus angustifolius are born from the upper leaf axils. The 12 to 20 individual flowers are born from the the upper leaf axils. The finely pubescent peduncle measures 22mm to 40mm in length while the pedicels measure 10mm to 30mm in length. The individual flowers measure 8mm to 10mm in length. The hypogynous gland is semicircular, glossy and pale yellowish-green.

The 4 pale yellow, cream or at times white filaments are sparsely covered in white pilose hairs and rectangular in cross section. The strongly revolute filaments measure 10mm to 20mm in length. The lateral anthers are yellowish-brown while the pollen is pale yellow. The anthers measure 1mm to 1.2mm in diameter.

The pale green style turns deep-green and back to pale green at the lateral glabrous stigma. The oblique pollen presenter is creamy–yellow to pale yellow. The pistils are glabrous and measure 12mm to 20mm in length. The stigmas are oblique and measure 2mm to 2.2mm in diameter. The flowers appear from late August to December.

Stenocarpus angustifolius fruits are narrow cylindrical follicles. The follicles are glabrous and measure 60mm to 100mm in length by 7mm to 11mm in diameter. The green capsules turn pale brown externally and fawnish-tan internally when ripe. The style is persistent on the ripe follicles. There are up to 8 mid brown to pale brown, flattened seeds in each follicle. The seeds measure 15mm to 20mm in length by 12mm to 15mm in width including the wing. The fruit ripens from January to March.

Wildlife:

Stenocarpus angustifolius supports many native bees including Tetragonula carbonaria and ants when in flower.

Cultivation:

Stenocarpus angustifolius is a large shrub or small tree that can be grown in association with other small dry rainforest specie in medium to larger gardens. In cultivation it grows from 5 meters to 8 meters in height by 5 meters to 8 meters in diameter when grown in the open . Most trees will not commence spreading until they reach a semi mature height. The first flowers usually appear after 7 or 8 years from seed. Cutting grown trees usually flower from the second year.

It grows exceptionally well on lighter clay soils where deep leaf litter keeps the soil cool and moisture at an even level. If these requirements are met it can cope with temperatures as low as 2 degrees and up to 40 degrees. It is moderately drought resistant once established however growth is slowed dramatically when other than ideal conditions are supplied.

If it is given an adequate supply of water and a little native fertilizer on a regular basis the plants will respond with better flowering and fruit over a long period.

Stenocarpus angustifolius make very good accent trees in front of low set and 2 story commercial buildings, industrial sheds or school classrooms where it will break up hard rigid architectural lines and give warmth and breadth to a building. In front of high rise buildings they give balance especially where they could be grown in curves standing as sentries to the entry doors. It will help maintain cooler temperatures in summer and warmer conditions in the winter.

Try using one in a court yard where the only other feature is a large rock, stump or formal or informal frog or fish pond. Next to such features their large glossy leaves and beautiful flowers are never overpowering but strong enough to be noticed. I am surprised that they have never been used in commercial entrances and foyers to break the ice and give a feeling of business as usual but somehow make the business more relaxing.

It looks great when used in medium to large rockeries as the feature plant. Here it can be planted in small groups of 2 or 3 or as a standalone plant to create the center of attention. If it is surrounded by shorter plants with finer or larger foliages, that are yellow-green or pale green then year round contrast can be created with a strong accent in the center of the bed. A more formal look can be achieved by radiating the smaller plants in a pattern of gold and purple. Use plants with deep red to red-orange flowers that are much shorter will also create that dominate affect at the center giving height and strength to the bed.

The trees are ideal for the growing epiphytic ferns and orchids on especially when grown on the edge of a rainforest garden.

Propagation:

Seeds: The seeds of Stenocarpus angustifolius can be removed easily from the follicles.

Sow fresh seeds directly into a seed raising mix, keeping them moist not wet. Cover the seeds with 1mm to 3mm of mix. Do not over water as the seeds will rot off before germination takes place. Place the trays in a cool shaded area with 30mm to 50mm shade cloth in the bush house. When the seedlings are 20mm to 25mm tall, prick them out and plant them into 50mm native tubes using a good organic mix.

As the seedlings roots reach the bottom of the tubes plant them out into their permanent position. Do not delay.

Fertilize using Seaweed, fish emulsion or organic chicken pellets soaked in water and apply the liquid on an alternate basis. Fertilize every 2 months until the plants are well established then on an annual basis in September or March to maintain health, vitality and better flowering.

Cuttings:

Stenocarpus angustifolius can be grown from cuttings, which strike relatively easy. Use 200mm to 350mm long semi hardwood to hardwood cuttings from the present season’s growth. Take them in warmer months of the year. Remove half the leaves from the bottom section being careful not to tear the bark.

1 Prepare the cutting mix by adding two thirds sharp clean river sand, one third peat or one third perlite. These ingredients must be sterilized,

2 Select good material from non diseased plants, 

3 Select semi green stems for cuttings. Look for a stem with two or three nodes,

4 Place the cutting on a flat, hard surface, and make a clean cut down one side of the cutting at the base for 10mm with a sharp sterile knife or razor blade. – This scarification of the node will increase the chances of roots emerging from this spot. Now remove all but one or two the leaves, leaving the apex leaves in tact. If the leaves are very large in proportion to the stem, cut off the apical halves.

5 Fill a saucer with water, and place a little medium strength rooting hormone into another container like a milk bottle top. Dip the node end of the cutting into the water and then into the rooting hormone. Tap off any excess hormone,

6 Use a small dipple stick or old pencil to poke a hole into the soilless potting mix. Ensure the hole is slightly larger than the stem diameter and be careful not to wipe the rooting hormone off the cuttings base. Place 2 to 4 cuttings in each of the 50mm native tubes,

7 I like to place the tubes in bucket with holes drilled in the bottom to allow excess water to drain out. A plastic bag that fits over the bucket is ideal to help maintain temperature and moisture. Place in a semi shaded, warm position like under 50mm shade cloth.

8 When the cuttings have struck, open the bag to allow air circulation for a few days to a week,

9 Once hardened off remove the cuttings from the bag and allow to further hardening for a few more days to a week,

10 Transplant into a good potting mix to grow on.

Fertilize using seaweed, fish emulsion or organic chicken pellets soaked in water on an alternate basis. Fertilize every two months until the plants are established then twice annually in early September or March to maintain health, vitality and better flowering.

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