In the Garden with Nell Carr
Leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida) is a major source of income for Tasmania and is noted for its beautifully scented blossom.
Photo supplied
Wollemi Pine trees, Wollemia nobilis, have proved to be adaptable to a range of climates.
Photo by Lois Beckwith
Gondwana
Ancient Gondwana comprised the land masses of India, Southern Arabia, Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea.
Around 130 million years ago, this supercontinent was beginning to break up, each land mass drifting on its own plate, leaving Australia, South Africa and South America the only conjoined land masses.
With changing climates and the eventual drift northwards of South America and Australia, the rainforests of Antarctica were replaced by ice.
In the other two continents, many of the species which could not adapt to drier conditions died out, or were confined to the wetter sections.
In Australia, these were most notably the western and south western parts of Tasmania.
Our state can boast much more rainforest as a proportion of its area than any of the others. This is not so much a matter of congratulation, as one of deep regret for the mainland states, where so much rainforest has fallen prey to development.
Information supplied by Dr MJ Brown, native species botanist.
Economic advantage past and present
The descendants of these historic species have, since the earliest days of European settlement, contributed enormously to Tasmania’s economy.
The convict settlement on Macquarie Harbour was established to gain access to the extensive resources of the Lower Gordon and King River valleys, and exploitation of the resource continued long after the cessation of transportation.
The special qualities of Huon Pine (Lagarostrobus franklinii), made the species a prime target for wholesale harvesting with the logs being floated down the rivers to the port of Strahan from 1822 onwards.
Huon Pine’s prize attributes of close grain, softness and extreme durability, plus the ability to float while still green, meant that most of the West Coast’s accessible pine forests were cut out by 1982.
Logging of large forests in that area was suspended at that time to allow further research into forest conservation and regeneration.
In recent decades, society’s appreciation of the character of all the age-old plants has encouraged less destructive exploitation.
Over the same period, honey production, tourism, and the nursery industry have done much to establish the preservation of pure rain forest stands.
Those rainforest conifers and beech trees are still vulnerable however, when they are in unreserved forests mixed with Eucalyptus species.
Trucks may be seen bearing logs with sawn ends that show the distinctive red colouring of Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii).
These beautiful trees are quite prolific in local river valleys around the base of the Great Western Tiers.
Tanglefoot (Nothofagus gunnii) is Tasmania’s only deciduous native tree and sets the alpine regions ablaze, particularly around Cradle Mountain in the Autumn months.
An eminently exploitable native species, Leatherwood, (Eucryphia lucida) is a notable source of income for Tasmania’s economy.
Its beautifully scented blossoms (pictured) are, or were, common in Tasmania’s rainforests.
Bush fires earlier this year destroyed many plants and it will be years before they can be restored in their habitat.
In fact, global warming might spell the end to these uniquely beautiful and valuable rain forest species
Wollemi Pines, living fossils
The story of this tree, Wollemia nobilis, is now well known.
David Noble, a National Parks field officer, was following a creek in a hidden valley in the Blue Mountains in NSW when he noticed unusual foliage floating there. This led to the discovery of a group of previously unknown trees.
Now many thousands of trees are propagated via tissue culture, and were available in Australia, Western Europe, and the USA by the end of 2006.
I include it with the trees of Meander Valley, because they are available in some native plant nurseries in giant pots.
Given the tree’s original location, it has proved to be remarkably adaptable to a range of climates from -5°C to 45°C.
Sadly, some of the trees in the site of its original discovery, which is off limits to members of the public, have been found to be infected by the fungal pathogen Phytopthera cinnammomi, possibly from the boots of unauthorised visitors.
A little group of these pines can be seen on public land at the Tasmanian Arboretum at Eugenana.
The original tree is surrounded by a group of young seedling trees, growing on a bank beside the pathway up to the Tasmanian collection.
Broad beans may be sown in August and September.
Photo supplied
In the vegie garden
Broad beans may be sown in August and September. Even seeds of dwarf varieties can fall victim to late spring winds.
To stabilise plants, sow them in double rows 20-30 cms apart, and 80-90 cms between each double row. They will withstand winds more if stakes are firmly driven in at each corner, and thin rope tied round the bed 20 cms from the tops of the stakes,
Peas may be sown in August, also lettuce, spring onions, cabbage, parsnips, and pumpkins in seed boxes - which can be shifted into a sheltered spot after they germinate if a late frost is predicted.
