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Author: FRBGM

A ‘touch of red’

by FRBGM

A ‘touch of red’

William Guifoyle, it is often, liked a ‘touch of red ‘in his landscaping. The Natal Flame Bush fits the bill. This very showy shrub or small tree is growing in several places in the Gardens, in the beds around Garden House, the Rockery near the Eastern Lawn, the Bell Shed Bed and the Gathering Bed.

Its scientific name is Alberta magna and it belongs to the Rubiaceae family, known for its sweet scented flowers especially in the genus Gardenia. Coffee and Cinchona from which we derive quinine are in the same family. It is a protected tree in the family Rubiaceae.  The Natal Flame Bush was named by Ernst Meyer a lecturer in medicine at the University of Gottingen in honour of Albertus Magnus a famous German philosopher in the 12-13th centuries. The specific name magna means great or big. This species is native to Natal in South Africa. The African common name is ‘breekhout’ and refers to the wood, which is useless, but the bark is used in traditional medicine.

It is found near rivers and streams and has handsome gardenia-like foliage. It reaches a greater height in the wild but in cultivation only to 2-3 m.  The leaves are simple and opposite and a bright shiny green.

Tree collectors treasure it for its beauty because it puts on, in autumn to summer a showy display or brilliant red tubular flowers. The individual flowers are 2.5 cm long while the calyx is hairy. The small fruits have large scarlet wings formed from the elongated calyx lobes.

This is a very attractive tree in our Gardens and well worth seeking out to admire the red flowers.

Continuing on my theme of red … it is Banksia time at Cranbourne. Banksias come into their own in the autumn and visitors marvel at the range and colour variants on show. It is Banksia menziesii that really catches the eye with its striking red flower heads. You can see why it has common names such as Firewood Banksia, Port wine Banksia or Strawberry Banksia due to the colour of the inflorescences.

It hails from Western Australia growing from Perth north to the Murchison River in sandy soils in scrubland or low woodland. It can reach to 10m tall but is usually a low shrub 1-3m.The serrated leaves are a dull green with new growth a paler grey green. In August, the flower heads are very prominent with two colours; red and yellow. The flower spike has numerous individual flowers and can be up to 1043 per spike. Apparently, the species has more flower colour variants than any other Banksia species. The individual flowers open from the bottom while those at the top are unopened and appear in neat rows.

Charles Fraser first collected the species in 1827 during the Sir James Stirling exploration of the Swan River. Robert Brown named the species in honour of Archibald Menzies naturalist on the HMS Discovery under George Vancouver who discovered King George sound in 1791. So a very interesting history.

A visit to Cranbourne is a must if you admire our stunning Banksias which are native to Australia with one exception of one in New Guinea.

Words and images by Lynsey Poore

THE FLORAL EMBLEM OF VICTORIA

by FRBGM

The Floral Emblem of Victoria - The Pink or Common Heath

After the good rains, many of us may be eagerly looking forward to visiting verdant rural or coastal places in Victoria as the COVID restrictions are eased.  If it is to be in late Spring, there may still be a chance to see the last of the flowering heaths and wildflowers that grow in the bushlands.

Each State and Territory of Australia has its own distinctive and identifiable floral emblem that can be used on flags or coat of arms.  After several years of deliberation the Pink or Common Heath, Epacris impressa was unanimously chosen in 1958 to be Victoria’s official floral emblem.  Victoria was the first Australian State or Territory to officially select a floral emblem and it is included on the Victorian Coat of Arms.

Early in September, during a Gardening Australia program, Jane Edmunson walked the heath growing area of Victoria between Anglesea and Aireys Inlet.  Jane met with Pete Crowcroft, an education leader with the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee who said this region has about one quarter of the State’s native plants including the Pink or Common Heath and over 90 species of orchid as an added attraction.

The scientific name of the Common Heath is Epacris impressa.  Epacris is from the Greek epi meaning upon, and acris, a summit which refers to the high altitude habitats of some species.  Impressa is from the Latin meaning indented, referring to an indentation on each petal around the base of the tube-like flower that has 5 petals.  It is a member of the Ericaceae family and is related to a number of other heaths.  It is a welcome pop of colour during Winter when many plants are dormant.  The Common Heath flowers from late Winter through to late Spring and grows to around 1- 1.5 metres high.

Victoria’s floral emblem grows in the southern part of Victoria.  Some of the places plant can be found are in the Grampians in the National Park, the Little Desert, Portland and on the Anglesea heathland.  The Common Heath grows in Tasmania too and also crosses the borders into South Australia and New South Wales.  Closer to home for Melbournians it grows in both the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne. 

A huge tapestry of Pink Heath, created by the tapestry weavers at the Australian Tapestry Workshop in 1980, hangs in the Sofitel Hotel on Collins Street, Melbourne. An equally splendid tapestry of the Golden Wattle is a companion piece that is also hanging nearby in the first floor foyer.  They are worth a visit when Melbourne city opens up again soon.

Image credit: Joan Mason

The Floral Emblem of Western Australia – The Red and Green Kangaroo Paw

by FRBGM

The Floral Emblem of Western Australia - The Red and Green Kangaroo Paw

When Spring bounces into our gardens and native bushlands, we are treated to the colourful blooms and the vibrant greens of plants we have nurtured or waited for during Winter.  One spectacular and naturally occurring example comes to mind – the wild flower season of south west of Western Australia.

Each State and Territory of Australia has its own floral emblem, celebrating the wonderful diversity of Australia’s native plants.  The floral emblem for Western Australia is the Red and Green Kangaroo Paw, Anigozanthos manglesii.  This plant is native to the south west of the State and has been the floral emblem of Western Australia since 1960.  The Kangaroo Paw of which there are 12 species, belongs to the genus Anigozanthos meaning irregular flower and was originally named by the French botanist, Jacques-Julian Houten de Labillardiere, who visited the region whilst on an expedition in 1792. 

The floral emblem was named after Robert Mangles who grew the plant from seed in England during the 1830’s.  His brother, Capt. James Mangles who was in the Navy visited Western Australia in 1831.  Both men were 19th Century horticultural enthusiasts and were keenly interested in the native plants of Western Australia. 

Red and Green Kangaroo Paw plants consist of grey-green strap-like leaves that grow to about 30cm in height. The hairy, bottle-green, unscented flowers occur on reddish stems up to 80cm in height.  Kangaroo Paw plants are wonderful bird attractors to the garden because they together with some marsupials and insects are the pollinators of this plant.  Pollen rubs onto the head of the bird such as a honeyeater or a wattlebird when it feeds on the nectar and as it hops from flower to flower it shares the pollen with next flower.  Amazingly, the differing individual shape of each flower species means plants are not crosspollinated because different parts of a bird’s head will brush different spots of each species of Kangaroo Paw.  Both native and hybrid species are great sun lovers blooming in full sun and require well drained sandy soil to flourish. They can be cut back severely after flowering.  They grow from a rhizome in both tall and short sizes suiting a variety of garden styles.

A couple of years ago, I was visiting a friend in Perth and spent time in the south west region of Western Australia.  The bushland is different to the east coast and for 45,000 years the region has been the home of the Noongar people, the traditional owners.  It is an excellent region to visit in Spring as it includes spectacular coastal vistas and from early Spring until November, the beautiful wildflowers are at their best including the Kangaroo Paw. This region is also host to the Margaret River wine growing region.  During the 1840’s both English and indigenous words were used when places were being named.  The then Governor, Hutt said some places should keep their Noongar names. In the dialect of the Noongar people the word ‘up’ means ‘place of’ and as a result there are quite a few place names ending in the suffix “up”.  Some that come to mind are, Yallingup – place of caves, Nannup – stopping place and Boyanup – place of quartz.

An interesting spot to visit in Spring 2021 perhaps!

Image credit: Malcolm Hobday

The Floral Emblem of South Australia – Sturt’s Desert Pea

by FRBGM

The Floral Emblem of South Australia – Sturt’s Desert Pea

Sturt’s Desert Pea is an oldie and a goodie.  There are stories throughout time about its origins, discoveries and botanical names.  Although this species now commemorates the notable Captain Charles Sturt, the stories of Sturt’s Desert Pea began with a Dreamtime Story from when the world was young.  The Legend of the Sturt Desert Pea is a story of love, pain and loss and in that place where the tragedy occurred grew “The Flower of Blood” as the First Nations People call it.

The first explorers who ventured into the southern hemisphere were more interested in the cartography of the Great South Land.  In 1699, on his second exploratory visit to the west coast of Australia the former buccaneer, explorer and writer William Dampier (1651-1715) collected several botanical species including the desert pea.  He reportedly dried the specimens carefully, pressed the plants between pages of a book and took them together with some seeds, back to England.  Today they are in the Herbarium at Oxford University.

Sturt’s Desert Pea, Swainsona formosa is a member of the pea family, Fabaceae and it was adopted as the floral emblem of South Australia on 23 November 1961, using the name Clianthus formosus.  This distinctive plant is also on the current south Australian Coat of Arms.  Sturt’s Desert Pea grows in Australia in all States except Victoria and Tasmania thriving in arid regions that receive between 125 and 250 mm of rain each year.  The plant is a horizontal creeper that runs for up to 2 metres along the ground with soft, silky grey leaves.  The stems and leaves are covered in a hairy down.  The flower is about 9 cm long, like a bean blossom but larger.  The petals are a deep, vibrant red colour with a black swelling known as a boss in the centre.  The blooms cluster in groups of six to eight and the species creates a stunning display from Spring through to Summer.  Sturt’s Desert Pea seeds can lie dormant until the vital natural elements are in place for germination to occur.

In the 18th century, the pea belonged to the genus Clianthus as Clianthus dampieri and later became more widely known as Clianthus formosus. It was later reclassified in 1990 as Swainsona formosa the name by which it is officially known today.  The species was named after the English botanist Isaac Swainson (1746-1812) and formosa, Latin for beautiful.  Isaac Swainson was a keen botanist with an interest in medical botany.  He was devoted to preparing and successfully marketing a vegetable syrup known as ‘Syrop of De Velnos’ and reputedly made £5,000.

Although Captain Charles Sturt (1795-1869) did not find the inland sea he believed existed on his expedition to central Australia in 1844, Sturt did comment in his journal, Narrative of an Expedition upon the displays of Swainsona formosa.  He refers several times to the beauty of the desert pea in flower in contrast to the harsh nature of the plant’s habitat.

Sturt’s Desert Pea is a resilient, eye-catching plant with a story to tell.

Article by Marg Thomas.

Image: Swainsona formosa by Valda Jenkins

News from the Plant Craft Cottage Gardening Group

by FRBGM

Plant Craft Cottage Gardening Group

The gardening group at Plant Craft Cottage has been busy this week doing what convenor Lesley is calling ‘the big autumn prune that didn’t happen last year’. Enormous rogue salvias are being tamed, a wild looking lemon verbena has had a proper cut back and all the vines along the fences have received a good haircut too. Weeding the beds of course is a big job and the group has been hard at it. Happily, there is much to admire popping up between the larger plants being tended. Clusters of jonquils and daylilies have begun to flower as have the indigo plants by the shed (replanted after a short holiday with the RBG horticulturists when the shed was being repaired). Pink and cream begonias bob their pretty jewelled heads as your brush past them along the path to the front door of the cottage and deep green ivy drapes poetically down the rock walls by the back gate. We look forward to welcoming you back to Plant Craft Cottage when we open for 2021 later this month.

Rose and Francisca working in the PCC Garden

Day Lily

Begonia

Indigo

Sensory Garden

by FRBGM

We were excited to see the Sensory Garden officially open on 17 December 2020, when Peter Kelly, former Chair of the Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Trust Fund, the project’s major donor, shared the honour of cutting the official ribbon – a length of vine – with RBGV Chair, Ms Chris Trotman. RBGV Director and Chief Executive, Professor Tim Entwisle also officially launched the RBGV Melbourne Gardens Master Plan 2020-2040 at the same time.

Donors and other guests were given a tour of the new garden by Landscape Architect Andrew Laidlaw and horticulturist Terry Smyth, and it was pleasing to see plants contributed by the Growing Friends nursery as part of the landscaping. The garden gives visitors a place of quiet contemplation overlooking the water of Central Lake as well as a place to enjoy the different sensations of colour, scent, sound and texture, from the rustling of bamboo to the scent of thyme under foot.

The FRBGM Trust Fund grant of $200,000 towards the Sensory Garden helps to complete the Melbourne Gardens’ Fern Gully Restoration Project. This has been a major area of financial support from the Trust Fund over several years, with previous grants going towards the Fern Gully Boardwalk ($300,000), rainforest misting ($52,000) and the Fern Gully Rest House restoration ($75,000).

The Friends are proud to have been able to contribute to the redevelopment of this important precinct within the Melbourne Gardens.

The Floral Emblem of Queensland – Cooktown Orchid

by FRBGM

The Floral Emblem of Queensland – Cooktown Orchid

If you should happen to be on a road trip in Queensland and perchance, travelling along the Bruce Highway, your interaction with the world is maintained via the Trivia Quiz placed at various intervals, on the roadside.  The bitumen road is known for its tedium of straight and dangerous stretches.  While travellers are en route from Brisbane, motoring along the 1,679 km to Cairns, Fatigue Zone Trivia questions on Bruce Highway help keep drivers alert.

The solution to each question is revealed 5 km further along the highway.

When Queensland was preparing for its centenary in 1959, a poll was held by The Courier-Mail to select a state floral emblem.  Among the important criteria for selection were that the species should be a native plant of Queensland and relatively easy to grow. A number of possibilities were chosen for the poll and the purple Cooktown Orchid was a clear winner.  It was proclaimed the floral emblem of Queensland on 19 November 1959. 

The name of the plant refers to the northern Queensland town named by Captain James Cook.  Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River on Cape York Peninsular named also by Captain Cook when he beached his ship, The Endeavour there for repairs in 1770.

The taxonomy of this plant seems to have had a bit of a confusing history.  Currently, the Cooktown Orchid is known botanically as Dendrobium bigibbum var. phalaenopsis.  Dendrobium comes from the Greek dendron, tree and bios, life while bigibbum describes the plant as an epiphytic orchid and it grows on the trunks and branches of trees obtaining food and moisture from the air.  Consequently, the humid tropics are the natural habitat for orchids in general.  The specific name phalaenopsis comes from the Greek phalaina, moth.  It is thought, the flower of the Cooktown orchid resembles a moth. 

Although found in the northern Queensland tropical districts that experience very high summer rainfall, the Cooktown orchid is not a rainforest species.  It grows in exposed situations usually attached to tree trunks.  As with a number of Australia’s native species it is now rare in the wild due to habitat loss and collection.  Cooktown falls within the orchid’s natural growing range.  It can be grown outdoors as far south as Brisbane, but in Melbourne it will only thrive in warm, well-lit rooms or greenhouses.

Cooktown is located about 2,000 kilometres north of Brisbane depending upon which way the crow flies and 3,026 km north of Melbourne depending upon which way another one of those jolly crows fly!  Not exactly the quick trip home should the State borders close for travellers during these Covid days.

Image: Dendrobium bigibbum by Ian Valentine

Plant of the Month

by FRBGM

Echinacea purpurea

The genus Echinacea consists of nine species of summer flowering perennials which belong to the daisy family, Asteraceae and originate in dry prairies, gravelly hillsides and open woodlands in the eastern USA.  They are commonly called ‘coneflowers’ and spread by rhizomes which can colonise large areas after a few years.  The dried rhizomes and roots are widely used as an ingredient in herbal medicines as they are thought to boost the immune system’s power to fend off infection,

Echinacea purpurea has oval, rough-hairy basal leaves to 15 cm and toothed oval-lance shaped stem leaves.  The flowers are borne on upright red-tinted stems 50-120 cm in height through summer and autumn.  The flower heads are up to 12 cm across with golden brown cone shaped discs with partly reflexed magenta-purple ray-florets.

‘Rich Red’ is a well branched, bushy variety to 40 cm forming neat clumps with rich red petals surrounding the orange/brown cone.  It is quite drought and frost hardy.

Grow Echinaceas in a sunny herbaceous border or in an open woodland.  They respond well to deep, well drained, humus rich soil.

Photos by Anne Day. Article by Shane Williams.  Both Anne and Shane are members of the Growing Friends.

The Nareeb Gates

by FRBGM

The beautiful Nareeb Gates are back in place at D Gate. They have recently been restored to their former glory with the aid of generous donors, a project the Friends’ Trust Fund was also pleased to contribute to. Apart from the refurbished, shiny gold decoration, one of the gates’ most striking features are the tall gas lamps adorning both pillars. They will also shine again – but not with gaslight!

These ornate gates were manufactured in England, probably in the 1870s, started life in Melbourne with the land boom of the 1880s, and became part of one of the many grand Victorian estates recalled now only in the names of streets and courts around South Yarra, Toorak and nearby suburbs. The early ownership of the Nareeb estate at 166-170 Kooyong Road, Toorak, was changeable. It began in 1875 when 5 acres of land were sold to a Western District squatter named Josiah Watson. He chose not to develop the property and in 1883/84 sold it to piano manufacturer Octavius Beale, who built the mansion then known as Sommariva in 1888, under architect William Salway. Beale moved to Sydney and between about 1890 and 1906 the estate, under the name of Oma, changed hands between John Grice, Frederick Cato and John’s twin brother James Grice. In those years Oma was described as standing in ‘fine well planted grounds with handsome, elaborate scroll-work entrance gates (set in ornamental brick walls) opening onto a serpentine drive.’ (Stonnington History News, newsletter no.36, Oct-Nov 2001). In 1906 the estate was purchased by Walter Simmonds and renamed Nareeb. Simmons had become wealthy through property purchases and gold interests around Stawell in western Victoria. Among his properties for a few years had been Nareeb Nareeb at Glenthompson.

Nareeb in Toorak entered a period of stability and remained in the family’s ownership until the death of Miss Gertrude Simmons in 1964, when the 5-acre property was sold by the trustees. The National Trust had classified the house as ‘interesting, preservation desirable’ but fortunately Gertrude Simmons had asked that the gates be given to the National Trust to ensure their preservation, for the enjoyment of future generations. The mansion was opened to the public to raise funds for the National Trust in December 1964, with many thousands of Melbournians paying the 3 shilling fee and passing through the gates to see the historic property. The furnishings and fittings were sold at auction on site by Leonard Joel Pty Ltd a few days later. The property itself was sold, demolished and subdivided, becoming what is now Nareeb Court.

The gates were originally deemed significant as an excellent example of ironwork from the 1870s and presented to the RBG by the National Trust in 1966. They were officially declared open in November 1967 and are now listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as being ‘of historical significance as a symbol and a reminder of Melbourne’s heritage of large mansion estates, few of which now remain…… No other similar set of 19th century residential gates have been identified by heritage surveys in the City’. What stories those gates could tell!

The Floral Emblem of New South Wales – Waratah

by FRBGM

How aptly named is the magnificent Waratah?

Well, in answer to the question, the First Nations people who originally lived in the area that became known as Sydney were the Eora people and they named this vibrant species – Waratah which means beautiful or a tree with red flowers in their language.  The botanical name, Telopea speciosissima is equally appropriate.  Telopea comes from the Greek telopos meaning seen from afar referring to the conspicuous flowers and speciosissima from the Latin speciosus meaning showy and issimus, most. 

On 24 October 1962, the Waratah, Telopea speciosissima was named the floral emblem of New South Wales.  This particular species is found within a radius of about 200 km around Sydney.

Today there are a number of hybrid species of the Waratah, however there is a white variation of the native species too.  In Gulpilil’s Stories of the Dreamtime, a female Wonga pigeon was out looking for her mate.  As she soared above the tree canopy she was attacked by a hawk.  Escaping its clutches, she flew over white Waratah flowers and her blood turned them red forever.  First Nations people also used the stalk of the Waratah to make their necklaces and the flower was immersed in water and the mix of the sap and the water was given to children as a tonic.

Adventurous botanists sailed on exploratory expeditions from England and Robert Brown, a Scottish born naturalist sailed with Sir Joseph Banks on the Matthew Flinders expedition to chart the coastline.  Brown named the genus and species in 1810 and kept the Eora name for the plant.  Robert Brown became Sir Joseph Banks’ librarian, and they may have been good buddies because when Banks died, Brown inherited his library and herbarium. 

The Waratah belongs to the Proteaceae family and it grows to between 3 and 4 metres high with dark, razored leathery leaves.  The Waratah naturally grows in sandy clay areas and is mainly pollinated by birds such as the Honey Eater which is attracted to the brilliant colour of the flowers and the abundant supply of nectar.  It flowers from September to November.  Nature has looked after this beauty because the seeds are winged for wind dispersal and there may be more than 250 seeds on one flowerhead in a good year.  After bushfires, which are common in its natural habitat, a Waratah can regenerate from its lignotuber – a woody swelling of its stem that lies partly or wholly under the ground.

The Waratah once flourished in many areas of the Sydney metropolitan area. Sadly, the survival of this native plant is due now to its existence in national parks, reserves and relatively inaccessible areas where it is protected.   It causes me to wonder about the changes that have occurred due to a combination of our urban and rural developments.  I wonder what this beautiful country once looked like. 

Although the Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha is the national emblem the Waratah was definitely a contender when a national floral emblem was being selected.  One of the reasons the Golden Wattle was chosen is that species are found all over Australia whereas the Waratah is native only to the south eastern parts of Australia.  Over the years, the Waratah has featured in postage stamp designs and in many works of art.  The magnificent stained-glass windows in Sydney’s Town Hall feature the Waratah.  In the sporting world, the Waratah is the mascot for the NSW Rugby Union team, The Waratahs.  A good friend spurred me on to discover why Waratah Bay on Wilson’s Promontory is so named.  It was named after a ship that was anchored there for repairs.

Waratah Day is on 26 September.