Sex and Death

I think its testament to how much there is to see in the gardens that it has been a year before I have posted about the glasshouse.  Since October last year there has been an exhibition on 'Sex and Death' - a fascinating collection of orchids and carnivorous plants, both exotic and native.  I took these pictures a few weeks ago, so I'm not sure if these flowers will still be there.  I was disappointed I had missed seeing Grammatophyllum papuanum in flower - the world's largest orchid, which occupies a whole corner of the glasshouse.  The plant was collected from Papua New Guinea in the 1980s and it is a very tricky plant to keep in cultivation, so the botanic garden was thrilled when it flowered twice in recent years.
The glasshouse has a lot of plants and facts crammed into its modest space, including some interesting facts about the humble Banana Musa paradisiaca, translated from the original arabic name 'Tree of Paradise'!  Bananas are in fact giant herbs that grow from underground rhizomes.  There are more than 100 varieties of banana grown around the world, in Australia there are 4 native species M.  paradisiaca, M. banksii, M. fitzalanii and M. hillii.  

I also learnt that some plants, including most orchids, are potentially immortal!  Although flowers, leaves, stems and roots will die of old age, the plant will keep on growing unless killed by disease, accident or are eaten.

Another interesting fact is that not all carnivorous plants are carnivorous, some are vegetarian!  Nepenthes ampullaria is one such vegetarian found in lowland SE Asian and New Guinea, which catches leaves and debris in its open pitcher on the forest floor.  There were plenty of the carnivorous variety in the glasshouse too though, including this Venus flytrap dionaea muscipula and carnivorous pitcher plant:

A whole year in the gardens

Today my blog is 1 year old!  Which means I've now recorded a whole cycle of life in the gardens on this blog.  I've learnt so much about the bush by writing this and taking photos.  I feel very lucky I've been able to spend so many lunchtimes in these wonderful gardens.  Here is where I had lunch today on the Eucalypt lawn - I had a few lunch buddies too, a Pied Currawong Strepera graculina sat watching in a tree nearby (possibly female as it is more grey underneath) and the Kangaroos were out in force, munching away on more than just the grass!

A soldier mating frenzy

Its been far too long since I last posted.  In that time all the bark has been falling off the Eucalyptus trees as we are nearing the end of summer, so that they are now all quite naked. 

Apparently the process of bark shedding is accelerated after rain, as the bark softens and peels more easily.  Today was a wet day in the gardens - I love wet days.  The gardens are always quiet on those days (without people), but very much alive, I feel certain the birds all come out to play after the rain.  Today there were lots of little birds flitting around near the garden gate and I managed to get a picture of two fast movers I've not managed to capture before, a pretty little Spotted Pardalote Pardalotus punctatus and a Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa, which has a very acrobatic flight.   

As I was taking a photo of some striking Eucalyptus on the Eucalypt Lawn, I noticed that where the bark was peeling from the tree lots of beetles had gathered.  Looking closely I saw they were all coupled up, it was a beetle orgy!  These are Green Soldier Beetles Chauliognathus sp., also known as Plague Solider Beetles - they are known to gather together in large numbers for the purpose of breeding.  Some amusing stories I found on the web - one report that in February 2009 a school in the Blue Mountains closed its library when so many beetles were found over the walls.  The Australian Museum writes that although the beetles may gather in huge numbers on plants they are far more interested in mating than eating, so don't pose much threat as a pest!

 

So, where the old bark peels off the Eucalyptus trees the beetles gather to create new life, the circle of life goes on. 

ABC gallery - featuring a photo from this blog!

The Cicada picture I took in Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens back in October is now featured in the ABC 'Your Summer Bug Photos' competition gallery!  Some really beautiful photos of bugs up there, I'm honoured to be in such good company.  I must be getting something right - as you can see on this blog, plenty of trial and error!

The Telstra tower - modelled on a Grass Tree?!

I took a picture of these Grass Trees Xanthorrhoea the other day, with Canberra's iconic Black Mountain Tower in the background - it made me realise the design for the tower really looks like it was inspired by the grass trees!  Perhaps that is why the tower seems to sit so well in the landscape. 
Grass trees are interesting plants, they are very slow growing so a large one may be hundreds of years old.  They are important to Aboriginal people, who would use the long flowering spike as a spear.  Aboriginal people would eat the nectar and the resin was used as glue.  They would also eat young leaves, but use tough old leaves as knives.  A more controversial common name for them is 'black boy', as they resemble the silhouette of an Aboriginal boy holding a spear. 
When I visited Tasmania a year ago I discovered some species of Xanthorrhoea in Tasmania are threatened by Phytophthora cinnamomi, a devastating plant pathogen that has spread across the globe causing serious destruction in native plant communities.  There appears to be a management plan in place, though I believe this pathogen is also found in other parts of Australia. 
Below is a close up of the tower and the view from the tops over Canberra - with the silhouette of the tower casting a shadow on the Botanic Garden below.

There are many beautiful Grass Trees out at Tidbinbilla where my partner Edd works, it is a beautiful place, well worth a visit.  Edd drew a lovely picture of one a while ago, it can be seen here on his blog, along with a few more facts about the Grass Tree.  

Name that butterfly!

Recently I have seen some very beautiful butterflies around CSIRO so I thought I go and see if I could spot some in the gardens.  There are plenty of LBBs (little brown butterflies!) around - particularly this 'Common Brown' one, Heteronympha merope.  The first picture is the female, the second the male, interesting that the female is more striking than the male, in nature it generally tends to be the other way round!

I aslo saw this butterfly, it is a white butterfly but appeared greenish when closing its wings against the light.  It behaved in a very interesting way, moving quickly then hovering like a hummingbird next to the flowers rather than landing on them to get the nectar.  I can't identify it from a quick scan of the web, any ideas anyone?!

A wet week in the garden

Well, as many parts of Australia will be far too aware, this has been a very wet week.  Fortunately I was able to get to the gardens one day and found that the birds were loving all the water!  Here are some colourful Eastern Rosellas Platycercus eximius having a great time in the little pool.  First one had a good shake, then the other, then they both did, so they ended up looking very dishevelled!

 

I manged to get a nice shot of a Crimson Rosella who was watching the antics nearby but preferring to stay dry.  I also managed a picture of an Eastern Spinebill, though sadly its a little out of focus or it would have come close to a decent picture of one of these birds that I always have trouble capturing as they move so fast!

Finally, at long last I also managed to get a shot of a Gang-gang Cockatoo Callocephalon fimbriatum for this blog!  I heard the familiar creaking call and spied one in a tree, however it is a female or perhaps a juvenile (it looks rather young and scraggly in the first photo), apparently young birds are similar to the adult female, with young males differing by having a red crown and forehead and a shorter, less twisted red crest. So, a little disappointing its not a male but I will keep an ear out and hopefully one day I will get a picture of one in the gardens on here for you (though before long they might be heading back up to higher altitudes - they are more common in Canberra in winter).