July 2012 Newsletter. General Meeting Times

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President: Russell Dempster 8983 2131 Vice President: Jude Ebsworth 0437278799 Secretary: Sarah Hirst Treasurer: Peter Ebsworth Publicity: Dave Liddle Publications: Sarah Hirst Public Officer: Helen

Thursday July 19 th 2012. General meetings are held at 7:30 pm on the third Thursday of each month at Marrara Christian College, on the corner of Amy Johnson Avenue and McMillans Road.

1 President: Russell Dempster Vice President: Jude Ebsworth Secretary: Sarah Hirst Treasurer: Peter Ebsworth Publicity: Dave Liddle Publications: Sarah Hirst Public Officer: Helen Spiers Librarian: Liz Howells General Committee Members: Alex Bakunowicz Maxine Atkinson Webmaster: Alex Bakunowicz July 2012 Newsletter General Meeting Times The next TENPS meeting is on Thursday July 19 th General meetings are held at 7:30 pm on the third Thursday of each month at Marrara Christian College, on the corner of Amy Johnson Avenue and McMillans Road. The general meeting is followed by a chance to meet with other members and access the TENPS reference Library over a cuppa. Bring your plants along to swap, sell or have identified. The guest speaker presentation commences at 8pm. All are welcome. Field trips are usually on the weekend following the General Meeting, details provided in the newsletter or at the meeting. What s in Fruit? PO Box 135 Palmerston NT 0831 Exocarpus latifolius photographed at Territory Wildlife Park by Sarah Hirst. Natives mean more!

2 From the President - Membership Renewals A reminder that it is time to renew TENPS memberships for the 2012/2013 financial year. These were due by 1 July We invite you to make a special effort to attend one of our general meetings in the next two months to renew your membership in person. Come along on Thursday 19 July if possible... Invite your friends along too, if you think they may be interested, and encourage them to join. It s a great way to meet other like-minded folk and to learn about native plants, their habitats, conservation and propagation, as well as getting access to informative newsletters, our library, notices about upcoming events, discounts on native plant purchases, information about field trips, details of other clubs activities... If you have joined our society in the past few months, welcome! You do not have to renew your membership until 1 July A special welcome to those who joined at the 2012 Tropical Garden Spectacular, the recent Open Gardens or the TENPS Field Day on Howard River Sand Sheets. Article by Russell Dempster TENPS President. TENPS Field Trips & related events Sunday July 22 nd Land For Wildlife Field Day at the Greening Australia facility at 125 Thorak Road, Knuckey s Lagoon. (see page 6 for details please feel free to distribute flyer) August 4-5 th - Open Garden & TENPS plant sale at Jasmine Jan s (Lambells Lagoon). Note: The TENPS official launch of the enhanced Wildflowers of the Darwin Region website will be held during this Open Day. Sunday August 19 th High Tea at Dave & Robyn s - farewell to 56 Savannah Drive. Upcoming TENPS Speakers July 19 th : Emma Woodward - Seasonal Calendars. NT Field Naturalist Club Events Sunday July 15 Field trip: Marrakai Road a surprise packet. Led by John Rawsthorne The Marrakai Road is an oft cited birding destination, but it offers a neat sampler of a range of habitats from savanna woodland to monsoon thicket to grassy floodplain to billabong and riparian vegetation within a relatively short drive. We will restrict our excursion to the south western end between the Stuart Highway and the Adelaide River crossing. a remarkably varied and provident place for viewing bush and waterbirds and reptiles. Meet at the Stuart Highway end of the Marrakai Road before 8am, then head down the Marrakai Road at 8am, stopping at various habitats to explore, ending our excursion at the first Adelaide River crossing, about 20km along the road. A high clearance vehicle is recommended as the road is a bit rough in places (but no water crossings unless you choose to carry on through to the Arnhem Highway). Bring binoculars, field guides, camera, hat, sunscreen. Also bring plenty of water and something for morning tea. It would be sensible to car pool John or Tissa can act as a central contact point for car pooling. Contact John Rawsthorne on or Tissa Ratnayeke on to express your interest, or for more details of this excursion. Wednesday 8 August speaker - Craig Reid: Victorian Brush tailed Rock wallaby Recovery Project TENPS Committee Meeting Committee meetings are held every second month and members are most welcome to attend. The next committee meeting will be in July Time and venue TBA check the July newsletter or the website for details. 2

3 June meeting report: Wildflowers of the Darwin Region Website - why bother? - Dave Liddle & Ben Stuckey Dave Liddle: Why bother TENPS received a CFOC grant to increase public awareness of the plants Howard Sand Plain Site of Conservation Significance, by adding 100 sand plain species to the website. There is an evolving understanding of the importance of this landscape and its biodiversity values; and an evolving communication if these values. The Howard Sand Plain is nationally recognised for its biodiversity by the Site of Conservation Significance status as 1 of 12 significant aquatic ecosystems. The Wildflowers of the Darwin Region website is increasing awareness at the local level. There is a prominence of carnivorous plants in the low nutrient sand sheet heath concentrated in the Howard River area close to Darwin. For example: Bladderworts (Utricularia), 22% of which are endemic to the NT with 24% of species found in the HSP SOCS. 5.4% of bladderworts are threatened with 4% found in the HSP SOCS. Typhoniums, 90% are endemic to the NT with 27% are threatened species. 67% of Typhoniums occur in the HSP SOCS including 33% of the threatened species. The Howard River Toadlet is also present and it s range is confined mostly the Howard River Sand Plain Why here? - Unusual/distinctive habitat with harsh seasonal conditions, inundated or dry, - White sand with low nutrients therefore many plants are carnivorous, - Few trees leaves more space for annual plant species, - Hydrology with seepage zones after high rainfall - Not all sand country is the same, more study is needed Sand plains are special! 14 Utricularia species have been found in 0.1 Ha on Gunn Point Road. Ben Stuckey: History of the Wildflower of the Darwin Region website - Ben initially began this project but now he is preparing to handover website to TENPS. Ben has done a lot of work to grow the site but recently he has been making changes to improvements the design. He has reformatted the pages with TENPS and CFOC logos and links to further information and he has labelled 50 sand plain species, with a further 50 to do. Since 2011 Ben has made 85% of the species information pages with 95% of pages now formatted. In the coming month, Ben will: - add link to Darwin map - add more examples of flower types - add more information on sand plain species - expand species information TENPS needs to decide where the site is heading as Ben won t be around towards the end of the year so TENPS will need a new web manager and a long term plan for the site. Article by Russell Dempster & Sarah Hirst. TENPS Howard Sand Plain Field Day Report. On June 23 rd TENPS hosted a field day at Howard River providing a great opportunity for the community to find out about the ecology and management of the seasonally saturated lands of the Howard Sand Plains Site of Conservation Significance. David George, Manager of Headworks Planning at Power and Water explains the geology and development of the Howard River floodplains during the Field Day. The growing recognition of the importance of the Howard Sand Plains Site of Conservation Significance was supported by the great turnout of 34 people representing a good cross section of interest groups and individuals. 3

The site is recognised for its biodiversity values such as the threatened herb Typhonium taylori and Howard Toadlet.

Darwin is having a serious adverse impact on the sand plains. from the Howard Sand Plain Site of Conservation Significance.

Lou Elliott, a Weed Scientist with the NRETAS Weed Management Branch, talked about weed management on the Howard Sand Plain after morning tea.

The field day included a series of short talks from local authorities on: geology and formation of the floodplains; carnivorous plants; the threatened Howard Toadlet which only occurs near Darwin;

4 The site is recognised for its biodiversity values such as the threatened herb Typhonium taylori and Howard Toadlet. These species are endemic to the Darwin hinterland and only known from seasonally saturated sand plain habitats where their long term survival depends upon the actions we take now as the expansion of Darwin is having a serious adverse impact on the sand plains. from the Howard Sand Plain Site of Conservation Significance. The project is partially funded through the Top End Native Plant Society and the Australian Government's Caring for our Country initiative. Lou Elliott, a Weed Scientist with the NRETAS Weed Management Branch, talked about weed management on the Howard Sand Plain after morning tea. Ian Cowie, Chief Botanist at the NT Herbarium, shows some of the annual herbs found on the floodplains whilst others got up close and personal with a hand lens. The field day included a series of short talks from local authorities on: geology and formation of the floodplains; carnivorous plants; the threatened Howard Toadlet which only occurs near Darwin; management of weeds; recent work by the Extractive Industry Association; and upcoming collaborative projects to manage the landscape. Information provided by the guest speakers will be included in this newsletter over the coming months. See the Power and Water Corporation geology factsheet on pages 7-10 of this edition. June Lurssen, Chief Executive Officer of the Extractive Industry Assoc of the NT Inc. outlined the collaborative CFOC project on biodiversity values, weed management and mining rehabilitation. Steve Reynolds an Ecologist with CDU/EcOz talks about the Howard Toadlet. The field day also promoted the Howard Sand Plains project to enhance of the Wildflowers of the Darwin Region' website to highlight species Dave Liddle, an Ecologist with NRETAS Biodiversity Conservation provided a summary of upcoming work on the Howard Sand Plain Site of Conservation Significance. Dave also organised the speakers and acted as TENPS host for the day. Thanks Dave! Article by Sarah Hirst. 4

5 Next Plant Sale Open Garden August 4-5th If you missed out on buying some native plants from TENPS at the Garden Spectacular or the Open Gardens recently, there is another opportunity. We have been invited to sell plants at the Open Garden on 4 & 5 August at The Artists Retreat at 75 Herring Road, Lambells Lagoon. It is a good time to plant out. The cooler months enable plants to adjust and get their roots down, and although the build-up is a stressful time for all plants, once the wet season comes, the established plants take off! The blurb in the 2012 Open Garden Scheme brochure states: Artworks and sculptures sit happily in the garden of Top End artist Jasmine Jan, which encompasses a large lagoon, bushland walks and tropical exotic plantings surrounding the house....visitors can stroll meandering bushland tracks designed for easy access, with named native plants. Article & photos by Russell Dempster. 5

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SUBSCRIPTION FORM - MEMBERSHIP DUE 1 JULY 2012 Please accept my subscription/renewal for membership of the Top End Native Plant Society New membership Renewal My details are as follows: Name/s

11 SUBSCRIPTION FORM - MEMBERSHIP DUE 1 JULY 2012 Please accept my subscription/renewal for membership of the Top End Native Plant Society New membership Renewal My details are as follows: Name/s (Please print all family member names).. Postal Address Post Code.. Telephone (work). (home). address.. Please Note: Newsletters will be available on the member s page of the website and members will be notified by when each one is uploaded (Acrobat Reader is required to read files). If you DO NOT have and would like to receive your newsletter by post please tick the box. Payment Enclosed $... ($20.00 per member/family, $15.00 unwaged) Signature Date: / / TO: Sender: PO Box 135 Palmerston NT

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