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Category Archives: Plant Appreciation
Brachyglottis brunonis, The Daisytree of the Table Mountain
Since time immemorial, mountains have held special meaning to humans, and coming from a place where the tallest point in the landscape was a measly 169m high, I took the first available opportunity to visit the most accessible mountain when … Continue reading
A meeting with the White Knights
It is common knowledge that the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) is the worlds tallest flowering tree and that Tasmania has some of Australia’s tallest old growth forests. So magnificent are the Mountain Ashes that significant individuals have earned appellations such … Continue reading
The Lily before the lilies, Campynema lineare
In Tasmania’s heaths, herbfields, cliffs, lake margins and among cushion plant communities of the Northwestern and Central highlands lurk one of Tasmania’s most elusive botanical secrets – a little lily that hails from a botanical lineage of great antiquity. First … Continue reading
The philosophy that distils from botany
A great deal of life’s most positive philosophy can be gleaned from a healthy obsession with plants. Let me elaborate. 1. LIFE IS FOR APPRECIATING Everywhere a plant lover goes, there are green things to appreciate. Plants are everywhere. Phytoplankton … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellaneous, Plant Appreciation
Tagged appreciation, desiring, joy, philosophy, seeing
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Communion with the Miena Cider Gum
A single field trip up toward the Central Highlands offers plenty for a plant lover to see and do. One thing that must be done however, is to pay homage to the cider gums (Eucalyptus gunnii) of the highland areas. … Continue reading
Posted in Botanical Heritage, Bush Tucker, Ethnobotany, Eucalypts, Key Characters, Plant Appreciation, Plant Morphology, Tasmanian Endemics, Trees
Tagged Brad Potts, cider gum, Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus divaricata, Eucalyptus gunnii, Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata, Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. gunnii, Gintaras Kantvilas, Miena Cider Gum, Myrtaceae, Threatened Plants, Wendy Potts
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Tasmania’s iconic orphan: the Delicate Laurel (Tetracarpaea tasmannica)
The Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus), Tasmanian Waratah (Telopea truncata), Deciduous Beech (Nothofagus gunnii), Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) and Pandani (Richea pandanifolia) are names that are often cited by plant enthusiasts and bushwalkers guidebooks as ‘must-sees’ of Tasmania. But these five … Continue reading
There’s something about Daucus
There are rather few genera of native Tasmanian plants that share the same genus as the common economic food plants we see in the market everyday. Some examples might come as a surprise however. For instance, Tasmania has one native … Continue reading
The flowers we forgot: a tribute to grasses and their kin
In my virgin days of botanizing, my eyes were glued on flowers. Flowers in the sense of trees, shrubs, twinners, lilies, irises, orchids, etc. These are beautiful, often showy, and definitely attention grabbing. I was certainly not unique in my … Continue reading
Posted in Common and Unappreciated, Grasses, Plant Appreciation, Plant Morphology
Tagged appreciation, Grasses, grasslands
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Christmas Mintbush honey
Honey must really be one of the highlights of the gastronomical adventures of a botanist! To me, tasting a plant, or a product derived from it is another way of knowing a plant. A kind of communion. For years I … Continue reading
Tasmanian plants 