Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion.
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Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion. Please avoid publishing details of access to sensitive areas with no tracks.
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 5:00 pm
Hello everybody!
I have a question, as we all have the scientific names of some of our lovely plants depending on how many posts we have done on this forum, I was wondering what your favourite native/endemic plant is?
Mine is the King Billy Pine (athrotaxis selaginoides). Pencil Pine does come very very close too!
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 6:48 pm
I wonder if anyone will suggest cutting grass? Or Scoparia.
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 6:58 pm
north-north-west wrote:I wonder if anyone will suggest cutting grass? Or Scoparia.
Only a cynic like you

why do you need to be so negative all the time you are still too young to be a grumpy old woman ,did someone steal your scone or what ?
corvus
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 6:59 pm
north-north-west wrote:I wonder if anyone will suggest cutting grass? Or Scoparia.
Oh I don't know, Scoparia can be very nice in bloom! So pretty!
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 7:00 pm
north-north-west wrote:I wonder if anyone will suggest cutting grass? Or Scoparia.
Oh I don't know, Scoparia can be very nice in bloom! So pretty!
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 7:01 pm
north-north-west wrote:I wonder if anyone will suggest cutting grass? Or Scoparia.
I actually don't mind a bit of scoparia.... but only if it is covered in snow! It is a very useful plant I must add though. They have some of the best roots for hauling yourself up small cliffs and gullies, and they make for a handy abseil anchor
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 7:08 pm
King Billy for me hands down!! It's always special to see a few Huons as well though.
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 7:13 pm
ILUVSWTAS wrote:King Billy for me hands down!! It's always special to see a few Huons as well though.
I have a feeling our pines will be mentioned quite a few times
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 7:16 pm
ILUVSWTAS wrote:King Billy for me hands down!!
Ditto, but I love Scoparia and Fagus for their seasonal thing. Also Pandani, like old dudes standing watch over the landscape, always make me think of the aboriginal people for some reason....
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 7:38 pm
corby:
It's people being people that has made me so cynical while still so 'young'.
I really don't have one single favourite. Nothofagus (both kinds), Pandanus, E regnans, Snowgums, Ghost Gums, Prostanthera, native orchids, billy buttons, Banksias, Melaleucas, snowgrass and buttongrass, etc, etc, etc . . . it's all good. Except for *&%$#! cutting grass. THAT I can live without.
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 8:09 pm
There is a wonderful looking Snow Gum near the track South of Waterfall Valley that I always pay homage too, it has a large limb that extends horizontally, looks wonderfull when wet. Pandani comes in 2nd, it would be nice to put a date & height next to a tiny seedling & keep an eye on the growth over the next few years.
Regards Overlandman
Fri 13 Jul, 2012 8:46 pm
Cannot claim it as my favorite however the Xanthorroea australis that are in the Narwantapu NP coastal walk area are extraordinary considering there has not been a wild fire through there that I can remember in recent times.
corvus
Sat 14 Jul, 2012 10:50 pm
Myrtle beech- fairy trees!
Sat 14 Jul, 2012 11:01 pm
Tassie has so much unique flora, but for me the standout plant is Nothofagus gunnii simply because it is so unique. It's the only winter deciduous plant that is endemic to Australia. That makes it special, and it is a top tourist attraction to boot.
Mon 16 Jul, 2012 1:59 pm
Yup, fagus for me, one of the oldest vascular species on earth and the original species of nothofagus.
Wed 01 Aug, 2012 2:31 am
Joel wrote:Yup, fagus for me, one of the oldest vascular species on earth and the original species of nothofagus.
. . . and me too for fagus. I look forward to the "turn of the fagus" every year
Wed 01 Aug, 2012 7:49 am
Fagus is nice to look at, but as an off track walker, It loses points as it's a REAL pain in the butt to try to push through.
Wed 01 Aug, 2012 1:55 pm
The plants of Tas are one of the big draw cards for walking there.
I will add Gleichenia alpina [Coral Fern] and that conglomeration of plants that we call a cushion plant to the mix.
http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2125&p=38182&hilit=cushion+plant#p18088
Wed 01 Aug, 2012 2:22 pm
ILUVSWTAS wrote:Fagus is nice to look at, but as an off track walker, It loses points as it's a REAL pain in the butt to try to push through.
It doesn't have the nick name Tangle-Foot for nothing!

I know where you're coming from, it can be a bit of a pain when off track, a beautiful, colourful pain.
Fri 03 Aug, 2012 10:19 pm
I have always liked Blandfordia especially when they grow out of cracks in rocks and Pandani for their surreal tropical look. All the earlier suggestions are also excellent (apart from cutting grass!)
Fri 03 Aug, 2012 10:53 pm
Mark F wrote:I have always liked Blandfordia especially when they grow out of cracks in rocks and Pandani for their surreal tropical look. All the earlier suggestions are also excellent (apart from cutting grass!)
Blandfordia are very pretty! I have always loved the name, it makes me giggle. Bland that flower certainly is not!
Fri 03 Aug, 2012 11:30 pm
I have successfully transplanted a couple of Dianella tasmanica and wonder how many more natives we could do this with ?
corvus
Sat 04 Aug, 2012 8:44 am
I planted some Daniella tasmanica at my front door and it turns out to have been the ideal position. They've completely taken over that part of the garden and I've transplanted a few elsewhere now.
I've also transplanted a few blackwoods from the side of the road where the council mower keeps mowing them down. They're now getting quite large and have started sending up shoots of their own which I'm trying to transplant this year too.
Similarly with the tea treas from the edge of the river. They're going berserk thought my sewerage irrigation garden beds and may end up taking over it completely.
Sat 04 Aug, 2012 8:46 am
corvus wrote: wonder how many more natives we could do this with ?
corvus
Quite a few as long as there not transplanted from National Parks
Sat 04 Aug, 2012 8:58 am
My neighbor had a Huon, King Billy and Celery top pine all in pots.. when he moved away he asked if i'd like them. I planted them soon after and they are thriving. Especially the Huon pine, it's growing quite fast!!
Sat 04 Aug, 2012 10:02 am
Son of a Beach wrote:I planted some Daniella tasmanica at my front door and it turns out to have been the ideal position. They've completely taken over that part of the garden and I've transplanted a few elsewhere now.
Same.. they really do well with good drainage. Ours are so healthy they are rare to flower. I had the idea that they might be a taste of bush tucker for the menu but i'm not sure what to serve them with, dog poo perhaps

.. er..
I like banksias!!
Sat 04 Aug, 2012 10:28 am
Has anyone ever heard of somebody successfully growing Native cherry, exocarpos cupressiformis? I would be interested to hear how well it worked, if it worked!
Sat 04 Aug, 2012 10:52 am
bushwalker zane wrote:Has anyone ever heard of somebody successfully growing Native cherry, exocarpos cupressiformis? I would be interested to hear how well it worked, if it worked!
There is a tas native nursery in Ridgeway (10mins from Hobart) that has pretty much any Tas native you can think of, they will most likely have them.
Sat 04 Aug, 2012 10:56 am
Hmm, might check it out next time I'm down that way! I have heard they're hard to grow as they are a parasitic plant, so they need a host.
Tue 28 Aug, 2012 11:35 pm
Mine is the Waratah, Telopea Truncata, wonderful in flower. Hard to grow from seed although I have a couple growing at home from Redbreast Nursery at Margate.
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