Gums at the
eastern edge ...
eastern edge ...
... Ditto
This is a page within Roger and Linda's
Bunhybee Grasslands Web-Site.
Bunhybee Grasslands is a 49 hectare / 120 acre conservation property 35km south
of Braidwood, in southern N.S.W.
You can follow through the internal links, or you may find it easier to use
the Site-Map.
Given that the majority of the property is grasslands, our primary focus is on the grasses and the forbs, i.e. the small flowering plants that grow among the grasses. On the other hand, as partly shown by the satellite imagery, there are many trees and shrubs.
Below are photos, in chronological order.
Here are short-cuts to:
Here are alternative sources of information about trees and shrubs on the property:
For larger images, click on the thumbnails below.
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Gums at the eastern edge ... |
... Ditto |
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Snowgums in the copse on the ridge, looking NE to Bunhybee Peak |
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Snowgums central block? |
Snowgums on South Block – note the power-lines, looking NE (Our very own Pro Hart?) |
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Snowgums central block with Mary Appleby |
Hakea microcarpa Small-fruited Hakea |
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Leptospermum ?obovatum Tea-tree |
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Red-trunked gums eastern edge E. (ovata? rubida?) |
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A lone Daviesia mimosiodes northern slope of Echidna Ridge ... |
... Leafy or Bush Bitter-pea, detail |
Leptospermum ?obovatum - 25 Apr 09 |
Leptospermum myrtilofolium with mould waterline on South Block |
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Cassinia longifolia waterline on South Block |
?E. dives (peppermint) South Block |
?E. rubida (candlebark) South Block |
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Leptospermum myrtifolium Tea-tree |
Leptospermum obovatum Another Tea-tree |
E. viminalis seedling above the small dam |
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Peppermint in NE corner ?E. dives (Broad-leaved) ?E. radiata (Narrow-leaved) |
Its young fruit |
Detail of its young fruit |
Its old fruit |
Its place in the landscape |
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E. dives (Broad-Leaved Peppermint) |
E. dalrympleana ... |
... Mountain White Gum |
E. ovata late afternoon, some Black Sally too? |
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Oxylobium illicifolium |
... Ditto |
?Persoonia linearis |
?Persoonia linearis |
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Leucopogon lanceolata ... |
... Ditto |
?Leucopogon ?hookerei / ?Acrothamnus hookeri ... |
... Ditto |
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Large E. rubida, small E. pauciflora |
Same pair, close-up. Close to the southern boundary |
E. rubida leaves |
A nearby pair of rubida pair, pauciflora pair |
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Large E. pauciflora a few metres inside southern boundary |
Probably the oldest and largest on the property ... |
... immediately adjacent to the water-line |
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Acacia brownii ... |
... Prickly Moses, close-up |
A. melanoxylon (blackwood) amidst the Echidna Ridge copse |
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A. melanoxylon, roadside ... |
... Ditto |
A. dealbata, roadside |
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Acacia brownii ... |
... Pricky Moses, close-up |
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Indigofera australis ... |
... close-up |
Kunzea parvifolia ... |
... Violet or Small-Leaved Kunzea, close-up |
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Eucalypts flowering ... |
... Ditto |
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Daviesia mimosoides |
D. mimosoides, and wind |
D. mimosoides, close-up |
Kunzea parvifolia |
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Kunzea |
Daviesia mimosoides ... |
... Ditto |
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Hakea microcarpa ... |
... Ditto ... |
... Ditto |
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Leptospermum lanigerum |
... Ditto ... |
... Ditto |
Allocasuarina ?distyla or ?littoralis |
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Lomatia ilicifolia ... |
... Ditto |
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Oxylobium ilicifolium ... |
... On the fenceline ... |
... Ditto |
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Leucopogon lanceolatus ... |
... Ditto ... |
... Ditto |
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Allocasuarina ?distyla or ?littoralis ... |
... close-up |
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Banksia marginata ... |
... Silver Banksia ... |
... southern block ... |
... near the waterline |
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Exocarpus cupressiformis ... |
... Cherry Ballart |
Leptospermum lanigerum ... |
... Woolly or Silky Teetree |
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Cassinia longifolia ... |
... Dolly Bush ... |
... what a hopeless name ... |
... for a striking shrub! |
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New growth on *which* bush ... |
... Leptospermum myrtifolium? |
Bark of the Lone Peppermint (E. dives?) |
Are the snow gums spreading too quickly? |
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Epacris microphylla ... |
... a heath ... |
... with one remaining flower |
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Banksia marginata ... |
... with dog |
Lomatia ilicifolia ... |
... again with dog |
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Acacia melanoxylon, Blackwood |
Acacia brownii ... |
... Prickly Moses |
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Melichrus urceolatus ... |
... and Banksia marginata |
Another M. urceolata and friends |
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Acacia gunnii ... |
... Ploughshare Wattle ... |
... in Kunzea parvifolia |
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A young she-oak ... |
... ?Allocasuarina distyla |
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At the forest edge ... |
... watching the invasion ... |
... from the marker-tree |
Nicky also working on tree id: |
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A (Vulnerable) E. aggregata ... |
... at the southern end of its range ... |
... leaves and fruit ... |
... fruit close-up |
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View from just inside the forest edge ... |
... with a fallen tree ... |
... and other recent windfalls ... |
... just over the fence |
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Epacris microphylla |
Kunzea and view |
Hibbertia and Leucopogen ?fletcheri ... |
... and detail |
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Epacris microphylla ... |
... a heath |
A Leptosperm ... |
... and detail |
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Daviesia mimosoides ... |
... and detail ... |
... Leafy or Bush Bitter-pea |
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Davesia mimosoides ... |
... and detail |
Kunzea and scrape |
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Acacia brownii |
Acacia ?brownii ... |
... and detail ... |
... and location |
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Banksia marginata ... |
... Silver Banksia ... |
... and detail |
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Lomatia ilicifolia ... |
... Native Holly |
Acacia brownii |
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Allocasurina ?littoralis Black She-oak ... |
... but we're yet to nail down A. littoralis cf. A. distyla |
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Leptospermum myrtifolium ... |
... Teatree ... |
... with beetle ... |
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Acacia ?implexa (if so, then it's a species photo) ... |
... closer-up |
Leptospermum ?myrtifolium ... |
... close-up |
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Banksia marginata ... |
... close-up |
Eucalyptus sp. (which?!) with immature leaves |
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Lomatia ilicifolia ... |
... Native Holly ... |
... Stalk ... |
... Leaves |
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Epacris microphylla ... |
... a heath ... |
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Allocasuarina distyla Shrub-like, near the track, 75m from the gate |
Allocasuarina littoralis Tree-like, North face of Echidna Ridge |
Leptospermum polygalifolium ... |
... close-up (First species photo, thanks Rainer) |
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Exocarpos strictus (New Species) ... |
... or Choretum candollei but just over the fence |
Euc. ovatum Swamp Gum |
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The Kunzea may be extending, so here are some monitoring photos... |
along the poles to the NW ... |
... and to the SE |
Kunzea next door, poisoned |
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Indigofera australis ... |
... south block |
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Kunzea, in late bloom everywhere |
This one especially vivid |
This one, unusually, ... |
... bright, clean white |
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Davesia mimisoides with Pimelia glauca ... |
... and a close-up |
More advanced ... |
... on the western side |
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Hakea microcarpa ... |
... amidst the Kunzea |
Dead snow gums ... |
... in a drainage line |
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Acacia gunnii (NLF) (Jen and Helen Austin) ... |
... dead?! ... |
... cropped ... |
... north block, centre |
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Moist-grass/dead-pauci ... |
... dry-grass/live-pauci |
Acacia dealbata ... |
... bursting early |
We saw a sapling that may be a new Eucalyptus species, among the A.
ulicifolia gunnii (NLF)
NW of the copse. It was red-stemmed, and the juvenile leaves were opposite,
without stems ('sessile'), overlapped at the base ('amplexicaul'), narrow and
long ('lanceolate') and about 1-1.5cm x 7cm. That's exactly how E. radiata
juvenile leaves are described in Brooker & Kleinig p. 264. Narrow-leaved
Peppermint is in the Tallaganda, 7km west. It was the primary source for the
eucalpytus oil industry, which was big in the district from the 1850s to the
1950s. The only other local species with juvenile leaves at all similar is
E. viminalis, which is present 400m at the northern end.
There was a sprightly ... |
... Epacris microphylla |
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But mostly this was Acacia time, as the photos below show, including, remarkably, a new species:
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Acacia Corner, NW of the copse |
A. melanoxylon ... |
... Blackwood ... |
... inside the copse |
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A. gunnii ... |
... Ploughshare Wattle ... |
... only on the NW corner of the copse ... |
... 1 small, 2 tiny bushes |
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A. |
... Prickly Moses ... |
... NW of the copse ... |
... many small bushes ... |
... that small |
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Remarkably, a NEW SPECIES ... |
... A. siculiformis Dagger Wattle ... |
.. an old, blackened bush, broken, but recovering, NW of the copse ... |
... missed for the first 5 years!? |
Acacia time was already almost over, but several other species were coming into play.
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Brachyloma daphnoides |
Epacris microphylla |
Acacia siculiformis, now (justifiably) tired |
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At last a species photo ... |
... of Mistletoe ... |
... Amyema pendula ... |
... and a flower |
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Leucopogen lanceolatus ... |
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A chewed bush, but what is it? ?Olearia iodochroa |
Persoonia linearis ... |
... in the far NE corner |
Bursaria spinosa At last a species photo just over the fence |
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E. radiata ... |
OR E. dives ... |
OR a hybrid ... |
... Narrow or Broad?? |
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Pomaderris intermedia ... |
... cropped ... |
... just over the fence |
... cropped ... |
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... one more time |
Oxylobium / Podolobium ilicifolium ... |
... Prickly Shaggy Pea, in the NE corner |
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An A. still blooming |
The Echidna Ridge Davesia mimosoides warming up for a show |
Red-stemmed E. Pauciflora |
Two new species?!
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Acacia ?rubida poss. implexa, poss. melanoxylon ... |
... cropped ... |
... It's the one best-known to have that leaf-pattern when young ... |
... mid-way along the Nthn fence |
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Mystery Plant ?Olearia iodochroa ... |
... mid-way along ... |
... in the NE corner |
Leptospermum myrtifolium |
Very wet ground, after 100mm a few days earlier. And just after a series of late frosts finished.
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Kunzea parvifola ... |
... cropped |
Epacris microphylla |
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Acacia |
... centre-east ... |
... and cropped |
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Again ... |
... NW of the copse ... |
... and close-up |
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The only A. siculiformis ... |
... NW of the copse |
The sole A. gunnii |
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The 'growing' threat of Kunzea |
A new A. melanoxylon |
?Dying ?Daviesia mimosoides |
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Allocasuarina ?distyla ... |
... ?littoralis close-up |
Melichrus, Cassinia |
A new Cassinia amidst the Austrostipa setacea |
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Young Euc. pauciflora ... |
... close ... |
... closer ... |
... closest, incl. parallel venation |
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But what's this then? halfway-down NE Echidna Ridge, 150m from some rubida: |
Leaves opposite, ovate or elliptic, not cordate, not orbicular (dollar), sessile (stalkless), not amplexicaul (overlapping), glaucous/pruinose (bluish/waxy) |
So the favourite is Euc. dives ... |
poss. rubida ?viminalis ?radiata ??aggregata ??ovata ??dalrympleana |
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10 December 2014 Leptospermum ?continentale ... |
... Plantnet ... |
... more closely |
14 January 2015 – E. ?rubida and Daviesia mimosoides |
The start of spring was delayed considerably, due to the cool mornings lasting a month longer than usual. This was the first real heat, with three 28-30 degree days over the long weekend. The ground was dry, presumably due to persistent winds (very strong indeed on Saturday night). The water table was high, the dam still fairly full.
Species seen in the North and Centre blocks – (F means in Flower):
Acac deal, Acac mear, Acac mela, Acac sicu, Acac ulic gunn (NLF) F, Allo litt, Bank marg, Cass Long, Davi mimo F,
Epac micr F, Euca dive, Euca ovat, Euca pauc, Euca vimi, Kunz parv F, Lept cont, Lept myrt, Lept obov
Introduced: Rosa rubi, Rubu frut
Species seen on Echidna Ridge and in or near Gate Gully (F means in Flower):
Acac mear, Cass long, Epac micr, Kunz parv F (in full colour everywhere), Lept cont
Introduced: Rosa rubi, Rubu frut
An oddity, blackberry on the northern side of Gate Gully, and a Brachyloma.
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A White Kunzea |
A resurgent blackberry, duly despatched |
Brachyloma daphnoides |
Visit by NCT's Nigel Jones and Rainer Rehwinkel, and a chance to sort out the larger trees.
Only 1 in Flower: Kunz parv (but at the very end).
Plus these were noticed (17 of which only 1 is Introduced):
Acac mear, Acac mela, Allo dist, Allo litt, Bank marg, Cass long, Davi mimo,
Euca dive x pauc, Euca ovat, Euca pauc, Euca radi, Euca vimi, Indi aust, Lept
cont, Loma ili, Meli urce, Rubu frut
Firstly, several of the Eucs:
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E. ovata, maturing, on the eastern edge |
Young tree ... |
... with big, ovate leaves |
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E. radiata, on the ridge, ... |
... between the two arms of Gate Gully ... |
... Narrow-leaved Peppermint ... |
... used for Euc Oil |
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E. viminalis, on the SW of Echidna Ridge ... |
... recently-appeared ... |
... with curiously-shaped young growth |
Diagnostic: viminalis has 3 buds, radiata has 7 or more |
Secondly, we need to sort out the Allocasuarina littoralis and Allocasuarina distyla.
We have a few, but we've yet to work out a reliable rule for distinguishing them in the field.
ANBG told us that this one is actually Allocasuarina paludosa pka Casuarina distyla var. prostrata
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Allocasuarina littoralis, says Rainer ... |
... in the forest, just E of Bunhybee |
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Allocasuarina paludosa cf. distyla, on the SW of Echidna Ridge, above Gate Gully |
... closer ... |
... closer again ... |
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... and again ... |
... another shot ... |
... and cropped |
Very wet grass and flowing waterlines, 11 degrees and drizzle.
All that was
in flower was Acac mela (finishing), Epac micr and Kunz parv.
The season had finally got moving, a mere week later. The dams and waterlines were still full, but barely running, the various springs were easing off, and the ground in the lesser waterlines was moist rather than wet.
All that we saw in flower in the northern block were: Ac sicul (past), Ac.
ulic gunn (NLF) (past), Brach daph, Davies mimo, Epac micro (very small, on PP2 – Dry),
Kunz parv (early flower)
Kunz parv was in full bloom. But a new shrub-species doesn't offer itself every day!
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Melaleuca parvistaminea ... |
... Rough-barked Honey-myrtle ... |
... on Echidna Ridge ... |
... amidst Kunzea parv |
And possibly another new species, seen before in the very top corner, but not yet id'd:
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A new Cassinia sp.?
e.g. C. hewsoniae? |
Remarkably, after 9 years on the property, we tripped over a new species!
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Acacia decurrens ... |
... closer ... |
... tell-tale stems |
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Our sole specimen of ... |
... Lomatia ilicifolia ... |
Views S and WSW ... |
... and close-up |
In Flower (2): Also Davie mimo (finished), Kunz parvi (spent)
In Flower (7): Acac mear (peak), Cass long (many buds), Good hede ssp. alpe, Hibb obtu, Kunz parv (the very end), Lepto myrt, Lepto obov, Lepto ?sp (long narrow leaves, close together)
A. ?brownii flowering dully, and a sample taken to check with ANBG.
The A. seculiformis was its best ever, the main stalk dead, and all flowers in the several sq.m. of
prostrate branches.
No sign of flowering from A. melanoxylon.
All trees appeared to be coping okay with both the drought and the very gusty winds.
In modest flower were Cassinia longifolia and Leptospermum obovatum.
Almost completely finished were Kunzea parvifolia and Daviesia mimosoides.
No flowering from A. mearnsii, but buds on some.
We noticed a new, very young E. radiata 40m SW of the copse.
Surprisingly?, Epacris microphylla was in partial but bright bloom at the top of North Gate Gully.
Several Banksia marginata bushes had had a very good summer, some with excellent, cylindrical, yellow flowerheads ("coflorescences").
Very dry
In flower, only Brach daph, Davies mimo, Indig aust, Kunz parv, Olearia iodochroa, with no sign of any of the Acacias yet
An extraordinary transformation after the drounght broke.
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Leptospermum myrtifolium ... |
... again ... |
... further cropped |
Hibbertia, flowering in abundance! |
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Acacia Melanoxylon refusing to give up |
Another tree fighting back, with young, round, blue leaves, poss. E. rubida? |
One of many in epicormic recovery, from drought not fire |
Another. Smoke-affected?? |
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E. rubida ... |
... Candlebark ... |
... looking NE |
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A larger and older ... |
... E. rubida close by ... |
... looking WNW |
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Epicormic growth ... |
... post drought ... |
... post smoke, not fire |
Moist in low-lying areas, wind-blown-parched elsewhere. Very little floral action.
Small numbers of blossoms seen on the following: Ac mela, Ac gunn (prolific on 30 bushes, east and west ends of Echidna Ridge), Ac sicu (prolific on the sole cluster just NW of the copse), Epac micro, Leuc virg.
The Acacia gunnii (the unusual narrow-leaved form, easily confused with brownii, but early-flowering and light yellow) was in fine shape in several areas, east of centre-block, east of Echida Ridge, and north of the copse:
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Large A. gunnii (NLF) ... head of Gate Gully ... |
... erect form |
Smaller on Echidna Ridge ... |
... and pale and sharp |
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Acacia siculiformis ... |
... a single specimen ... |
... dying small tree ... |
... active low progeny |
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Allocasuarina littoralis ... |
... tree-form, square-coned ... |
... phylodes 5-8cm |
Noted in flower: Brach daph, Crypt amar, Epac mimo, Kunz parv, Leuc virg
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Lomatia ilicifolia ... |
... with Hardenbergia ... |
... as a close companion |
Banksia marginata, festooned with three different cryptogams |
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Epacris microphylla ... |
... and closer up |
Brachyloma daphnoides ... |
... and closer up |
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Yellow Kunzea, with greener foliage ... |
... amidst the mauve and grey K. parvifolia |
Cryptandra amara ... |
... and closer up |
Now this is a worry. The story has always been that E. pauciflora (Snowgums) are at especial danger from bushfires, because, unlike other Eucalyptus species, they do not respond to fire or other stress with 'epicormic growth'. (That's new leaves growing from trunks and major limbs). They're only supposed to re-grow after fire from the roots, and hence snowgum woodland is much slower to recover than other forms of Euc. woodland and forest.
| But no-one seems to have told this tree. It's in the moisture-line just south of the gate. It and its mates went under 5 years back. Moist soil appeared to have killed them. Then we had a savage 3-year drought. Then good rain. And now ... epicormic growth: |  |
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Melaleuca parvistaminea ... |
... Centre-East of North Block ... |
... Bunhybee's only specimen? ... |
... not seen in flower before |
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Olearia iodochroa ... |
... and inhabitant |
Hakea microcarpa ... |
... and detail |
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Leptospermum, poss. Lanigerum ... |
... but buds only slightly hairy ... |
... Why didn't Linnaeus ... |
... train plants better?? |
After a very wet couple of years, including recent months, and with waterlines having only just stopped running, 2 new species of Grass and 3 NEW SPECIES of shrub put in their appearance, all in Picnic Corner and within the small (2/3rds of an acre?) triangle of forest:
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Olearia lirata |
Ozothamnus poss. conditus |
Senecio diaschides |
This was a busy blackberry day, with no camera carried. In bloom, we saw some Epac micro, and a Meli urce was just yellowing up a little. The Blackwoods (A. melanoxylon) have had a great year, ditto the Banksia marginata.
This was a busy blackberry day, with no camera carried. What was worth noting was that there seemed to be far more E. rubida along the western edge of the southern block than we'd previously realised.
There was a great deal of strong yellowness evident in the bark of what are known as candlebarks (presumably from the colour of tallow candles in the 19th century). The strong growth following several wet years presumably means both healthy trees and growth bursting off the old bark to reveal the new layer.
Day 2 of 2 of the next year's blackberry attack.
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Olearia lirata ... |
... in our SE forest ... |
... but no longer one ... |
... lonely bush |
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Ozothamnus diosmifolios ... |
... a new species! ... |
... in Year 16 ... |
... a second in that genus |
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Persoonia linearis ... |
... SE corner ... |
... multiple bushes now |
The feature E. dives in the SE corner |
For centuries prior to being cleared in 1884-1893, what is now Bunhybee Grasslands was a mosaic of forest, woodland and grassland. The category of vegetation in the region that's most threatened is Southern Tablelands Grassland, so our purpose is preservation of the current open grassland plant communities and the considerable diversity of flora species (but also insect species) that they support. That's rather different from conservation, in the sense of supporting natural processes. However, 120 acres is enough space that we can also support areas of Snow-Gum Woodland, and areas of shrubs, particularly the several Leptosperm species, and rims of Eucalypt forest adjacent to Bunhybee Peak.
Reflecting those aims, our plan in relation to the management of Eucalyptus regeneration is as follows:
There are clumps of Leptosperm sp. in various locations. We're not particularly concerned about them, because their foliage spreads only after about 30cm above the ground and the clusters tend to be sparse, hence leaving scope for grasses and forbs. They're also often in multi-species scatters rather than being a mono-culture.
The Kunzea is altogether too healthy, and has spread considerably since
the end of the drought in 2009.
Kunzea spreads low to the ground, and forms thick clumps, and hence denies
space for grasses and forbs.
Without intervention, it would continue to become denser and to spread.
Clumps of Kunzea are something of a mono-culture and therefore particularly harmful to the diversity objective.
(The above is based partly on our own monitoring and judgement, and partly on
discussions with Geoff Robertson, Margaret Ning and ANBG botanist Joe Mc whose
property
east of Nerriga we've visited,
and then with Rainer Rehwinkel and Nigel Jones)
Our current thinking about the management options is as follows:
The priority areas to manage are those that appear to be otherwise rich in forbs and hence the Kunzea has become a threat to diversity. We assume that - although it's justabout a mono-culture - the clumps provide refuge for small birds. But we've never really seen any birds in Kunzea clumps.
The next steps are:
Kunzea Management Options appear to be as follows
(1) 'The Nuclear Option'
Parlour's owners used a contract sprayer shortly
before November 2011. We assume Grazon, but we've been unable to get any
information from the Airport about
either the spray or the sprayer (who we would avoid, or educate).
2 years later, all of the clumps of mainly Kunzea and some Leptosperms on the
block south of us were entirely grey.
4 years later, they were no longer visible from 600m away, and from close up
there was limited re-growth of Kunzea (or indeed of Leptosperms), but no
obvious damage to the grass.
However, there in 2015 there is little evidence of forbs. That may
be because of the locations, the previous dominance of the Kunzea, or the spray, or
a combination of any and all of the above.
We lean away from this approach, unless industrial-scale intervention becomes
demonstrably necessary.
(2) 'Pull'
Roger has pulled a couple of (youngish) plants in order to get a feel for (a) what the root-system was like — reasonably wide-spreading but not all that deep, and (b) how easy it was to pull — tenable, for small, reasonably isolated plants; probably untenable with older and larger plants and/or inside clumps. Either way, it's feasible only for quite small volumes
(3) 'Craft Cut-and-Paint'
In 2013, Linda cut-and-Glyphosate-pasted a selection
of plants, at varying heights, using a small hand-secateur and a Margaret Ning
dabber. Roger did a similar
thing just north of Picnic Rocks in 2015, painting rather than dabbing.
It's a problematic method — hard work to cut, and difficult to paint the remnants
of the smaller branches.
At best, it's a 'craft' approach, i.e. practicable only for small numbers of
isolated plants, possibly useful to cull outliers, or thin growing patches by removing the young growth.
(4) 'Industrial Cut-and-Paint'
A long-handled lopper could be used,
partly to apply greater force to the stems and partly to do it in a standing position rather than
bent over, e.g. these
90-degree 'edging shears'.
If done in a 2-person team, the other could paint immediately afterwards, possibly
the main branches only.
To check whether it's an 'industrial' approach (i.e. applicable on a larger scale),
it may be best to pick a small-to-moderate-sized clump that appears
to be taking over an area that should be richly diverse — probably on the centre-block,
or the northern edge of the southern block.
(5) Fire
Rainer suggests that fire could be used to reduce the intensity of
some of the clumps, and enable grass and forb diversity to recover.
He says it would need to be applied to an area at least twice.
We would need to
further develop our thinking about fires. Because of the woody nature of the plant, Kunzea would inevitably
generate considerably hotter fires than grasses, and hence the fire plan and fire-fighting resources
would need to be a lot more sophisticated
(6) Slashing
We could get someone in to slash, allow regrowth, and slash again.
Or we could invest in a serious brushcutter (c. $1,000).
This is a page within the Bunhybee Grasslands Web-Site, home-page
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Contact: Linda or Roger
Created: 8 December 2008; Last Amended: 24 April 2024
