A new unfurling

Hi Ian

Two comments about this picture I could make are that the species is not pentaphylla (we only have D. solida in NSW - see Plantnet) and the edge of the leaflets and the venation suggest it is in the Blechnaceae, probably Blechnum but maybe Doodia. Again, check plantNet, although I am thinking is may well be D. caudata, D. australis, B. fluviatile or B. ambiguum, although several of the blechnums fit the general appearance.

Cheers, Greg

My botany was learnt on Mount Coot-tha, Brisbane, so the Blue Mtns area is quite a new biome to me. I think that this commentary from you is very valuable for any viewer who has an interest. All I know about this is that it is very common there, say around the Wentworth Falls tracks, at the foot of moist cliffs where it is always damp. And it is deserving of the lens.

Ian

How long have you spent looking at the plants / biota of the BMs? I grew up here, so it's nothing really 'troublesome' to me - if a local plant list getting close to 2000 species can't be considered troublesome... - and have prepared several veg mapping studies of the area.

I too have spent a bit of time at Coot-Tha - my aunt and uncle lived at Bardon (Fairseat St) so I wasquite close. Nice gardens, and that and Brisbane Forest are still favoured haunts (I also spent a year workign in the Caloundra Hinterlands - good memories there too...)

SO, if you are familiar with the Mt Glorious / Nebo area maybe you might also have a clue about this species - I am a bit lost with it - no real characters giving it away.

Cheers, Greg

Greg,

I have been in Sydney some 13 years now, and BMs are simply a place that I take many of our international guests, who know nothing of our biota. I do not know the specifics of plants in the BMs at all, but occasionally I may photograph for the artistic merit, as in the case of this Doodia. But I am interested as I have some plant geography studies in my academic background and have grown up in the SE Queensland forests and the timber/forestry industries.

One RS Dick had his geography students of the 60s and 70s scrambling all of Mt Coot-tha for him. I don't know whether he was ever able to compile a complete tree map of the mountain, for he wouldn't have known which students' work to trust..and sampling from OPs can't be checked!

Well at least I learnt the principles even if E. intermedia isn't a E. anymore, and Tristania conferta decided its DNA wasn't good enough to be a T. At least it is still a Brush Box! RS Dick must be so disappointed for he told us not to trust or use common names and so it was so important to learn the latin! Maybe the smilax is smiling!

As for the photo you took of a flowering liane on Mt Glorious, I do not know its specific name, but have seen it quite regularly. It is familiar and attractive but that's all. My hiking has included this area, as well as most of the Main Range, the Bunya Mts, Lamington, Blackall Ranges, and the Yabba Valley. I have no idea whether I have seen this in several areas or it has been seen by me in more confined locales. But there is much similarity, generally across these vine forests.

So I am no use to you at all on this. But at least the outline gives you some appreciation of my interest.

You may now be encouraging me to do more vegetation photography, but I will have to study your folios first to work out where the gaps are. But I guess, I better be looking somewhere other than BMs.

Your expertise and wisdom is appreciated. I am glad that Panoramio has a good collection of your photos. Keep on building that up.

Regards, Ian