Plantastic!: A to Z of Australian Plants 1486313213, 9781486313211

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Half Title
Copyright
Title
Australia’s amazing native plants
Contents
How to use this book
A – Acacia
B – Banksia
C – Christmas Bush
D – Drosera
E – Emu Bush
F – Fan Palm
G – Gum Tree
H – Hibiscus
I – Indigo
J – Jasmine (Native)
K – Kangaroo Paw
L – Lilly Pilly
M – Mistletoe
N – Noon-flower
O – Orchid
P – Pussy Tail
Q – Quandong
R – Rice Flower
S – Stylidium
T – Tree Fern
U – Utricularia
V – Violet (Shrub)
W – Wollemi Pine
X – Xanthorrhoea
Y – Yam Daisy
Z – Zieria
Map/Where to find the plants
Plant ecoregions
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Back Cover

Citation preview

Text: © Catherine Clowes 2021 Illustrations: © Rachel Gyan 2021 All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, duplicating or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Contact CSIRO Publishing for all permission requests. The author and illustrator assert their moral rights, including the right to be identified as a creator. A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia. ISBN: 9781486313211 (hbk) ISBN: 9781486313228 (epdf) Published by: CSIRO Publishing Locked Bag 10 Clayton South VIC 3169 Australia Telephone: +61 3 9545 8400 Email: [email protected] Website: www.publish.csiro.au Edited by Nan McNab Cover, text design and layout by Rachel Gyan Printed in China by Leo Paper Products Ltd The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and illustrator and do not necessarily represent those of, and should not be attributed to, the publisher or CSIRO. Acknowledgement CSIRO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands that we live and work on across Australia and pays its respect to Elders past and present. CSIRO recognises that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have made and will continue to make extraordinary contributions to all aspects of Australian life including culture, economy and science. CSIRO is committed to reconciliation and demonstrating respect for Indigenous knowledge and science. The use of Western science in this publication should not be interpreted as diminishing the knowledge of plants, animals and environment from Indigenous ecological knowledge systems. Note for readers: Scientific terms are explained in the glossary at the end of the book.

Australia is an amazing place, with many unique animals and plants. I bet you already know a lot about Australian native animals, and you’ve probably read lots of great books about them. But do you know much about Australian native plants? Do you know that there are some Australian native plants that trap and eat insects? And others with seeds that are spread around in poo? Do you know that there are some Australian native plants that grow on other Australian native plants? If you don’t know much about Australian native plants, don’t worry; once you’ve read this book, you’ll know heaps! You are about to embark on a Plantastic journey exploring 26 amazing Australian native plants! You’ll discover Plantastic Facts about plants you may have heard of, like Banksia and Quandong, and some that might be completely new to you, like Noon-flower and Pussy Tail. You’ll explore the wonder of plants, like what fruits are, how plants get food and what the different parts of flowers do. This book is packed full of Plantastic pictures, and it also includes a map to help you find your favourite plants in the bush! By the time you finish reading this book you’ll be an Australian native plant-spert!

Australia’s amazing native plants

J – Jasmine (Native)

U – Utricularia

How to use this book

K – Kangaroo Paw

V – Violet (Shrub)

A – Acacia

L – Lilly Pilly

W – Wollemi Pine

B – Banksia

M – Mistletoe

X – Xanthorrhoea

C – Christmas Bush

N – Noon-flower

Y – Yam Daisy

D – Drosera

O – Orchid

Z – Zieria

E – Emu Bush

P – Pussy Tail

Map/Where to find the plants

F – Fan Palm

Q – Quandong

Plant ecoregions

G – Gum Tree

R – Rice Flower

Glossary

H – Hibiscus

S – Stylidium

Acknowledgements

I – Indigo

T – Tree Fern

You can read this book in different ways. You might want to enjoy the illustrations and discover what the plants look like. You may just read the first line of our A–Z collection (A – Acacia, B – Banksia). Or you can check out the Plantastic fact – one quick cool fact about every plant. If you feel like exploring, you can dip into the Plantastic Activity to find out something interesting about the plants, then look out for them in your local bushland, park or garden. Or read the whole book from cover to cover!

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The pictures will help you recognise the plants. The ones you find in your local area may look slightly different. For example, they may have differentcoloured flowers or slightly different-shaped fruit or leaves. But if you find a plant that generally looks the same as a picture in this book then you’ve probably found a species of that plant. Well done! The map at the back of the book will help you work out which plants you are most likely to find in your part of Australia. There are plants in this book found from deserts to mountains and everywhere in between. So use the map to work out which plants may be growing near you. Even if you live in a city with no bush around, don’t worry! Many of these plants are grown in parks and gardens. So wherever you are in Australia, you should be able to find at least one plant from this book, and probably more. Wow, that really is Plantastic! A few important things to note before you start this Plantastic adventure: When you’re out in the bush looking at all the amazing Australian native plants, stick to paths and avoid going off track. That way you won’t accidentally squish any of the lovely plants you’re out looking for. Sticking to tracks also helps prevent the spread of things like Cinnamon Fungus, which kills a lot of Australian native plants (for details flip to ‘B – Banksia’).

generally you can’t pick plants unless you have a government permit. And if the plant is rare, then picking a flower or two might mean it doesn’t reproduce, or that others don’t get the chance to see it flowering. A good motto to remember when in the bush is ‘take only pictures, leave only footprints’. But… if you find plants in a park, or a friend’s garden or growing in the street, you probably don’t have to be quite as strict. Check with the owner first. They may not mind if you pick a little bit of the plant for a closer look. They might even encourage your interest and may tell you all about their plants! You could press your specimens and make a little home herbarium. Place them between clean sheets of newspaper under a heavy book for a few days. Or you could collect a few seeds and see if you can grow the plant at home. There are quite a few plants mentioned in this book that are edible, but it’s best not to try eating any of them! That’s because some plants that aren’t edible look a lot like plants that are. You need to know for sure you have the right plant and not one that looks similar. So, to keep you safe, please don’t eat any plant you find, just in case! And that’s it.

Please check before you pick any plants! It might be tempting to take a flower or two home, but if you’re on public land, such as a national or state park, then

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Common name: Wattle

Most Acacia have yellow flowers but there are a few exceptions. One is a cultivated Acacia called Scarlet Blaze with red flowers (grown from an unusual form of Acacia leprosa). Another is a very rare species of Acacia called Purple Wattle (Acacia purpureopetala) that has – you guessed it – purple flowers.

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The ‘leaves’ of many Acacia are really leaf stalks. They have flattened out to look and function like leaves. These flattened stalks have a special name: phyllodes. Phyllodes come in all different shapes and sizes: spiky, stem-hugging, big and round … some are even sticky to touch. But why would a plant have phyllodes instead of leaves? One reason is because phyllodes are very good at conserving water, which helps Acacia grow in areas that are very dry. Leaves lose water from their surface through little holes called stomata. Phyllodes generally have fewer stomata on their surface, so they lose less water less quickly. The seedlings of some Acacia species grow true leaves first, then start growing phyllodes instead. You can sometimes find seedlings with both true leaves and phyllodes. The true leaves of Acacia look a bit like the leaves on the ‘I – Indigo’ page. Acacia have very distinct flowers that are almost always yellow, a bit like fluffy balls or pipe-cleaners. These flowers aren’t one single flower, but lots of tiny little flowers bunched together. When flowers are bunched together like this, the bunch is called an inflorescence. Lots of Australian native plants have inflorescences, such as Banksia, Pussy Tail, Yam Daisy and Xanthorrhoea, all included in this book.

Next time you find an Acacia, have a look around and see if you can find any seedlings growing under it or nearby. Look at the leaves. Can you find seedlings that have true leaves and leaf stalks developing into phyllodes?

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Genus name: Banksia

Banksia have special roots (called proteoid roots) that form dense clusters in the soil. These special roots help Banksia to get nutrients out of the soil. This means that Banksia can grow in places that other plants might have trouble growing because their roots aren’t as good at getting nutrients out of the soil.

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Banksia ‘cones’ are made up of woody fruits that hold seeds to protect them from fire. Strangely, the fruits of many Banksia species can’t open without a fire! How does this work? Heat from the fire triggers the fruits to slowly open. Then once the fire has passed, the seeds are released into the freshly cleared soil, where they germinate and start to grow into a new plant. These adaptations increase the chances of the Banksia seeds growing into new plants. An adaptation is a feature of a plant that helps it or its offspring to survive in its environment. Many Australian native plants have adaptations that help the species to survive fire (and all sorts of other conditions too). Some adaptations help only seeds survive the fire so they can germinate and grow into new plants. Often Banksia plants are killed by fire, but their seed survives. One other thing that can kill Banksia easily is a fungus in the soil. It is called Cinnamon Fungus and it attaches to the roots of Banksia, eventually killing the plant. It can be spread in mud that gets caught on people’s shoes. You can help protect Banksia by cleaning mud off your shoes before and after you go for a walk in the bush. In affected areas you will often see signs warning you that Cinnamon Fungus is present in the soil. Take extra care in these areas to stay on paths and clean your shoes. You might even find a shoe-cleaning station with shoe scrubbers there ready for you to use. That’s handy!

See if you can find a Banksia ‘cone’ with woody fruits that look like two eyes and a mouth.

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Species names: Bursaria spinosa, Prostanthera lasianthos and Ceratopetalum gummiferum

Christmas Bush is the common name for three completely different plants, depending where you live. In South Australia and Tasmania, Christmas Bush is Bursaria spinosa. In Victoria it’s Prostanthera lasianthos. And in New South Wales it’s Ceratopetalum gummiferum. That is very confusing!

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The common name Christmas Bush is used for three different plants found in Australia. One common name for more than one plant is confusing. It’s a bit like having three girls named Matilda in your class at school. When someone mentions ‘Matilda’ your first thought is ‘which one?’ Confusing common names is one reason scientists give plants scientific names. Each scientific name is only used for one plant species, with all other species requiring a unique name. But sometimes the same common name is given to plants that are completely different from each other. If you’re a Tasmanian talking about Christmas Bush, only a South Australian will picture the right plant. People in Victoria and New South Wales will be thinking of entirely different plants! But why are these three plants commonly called Christmas Bush? Because all of them flower at Christmas time. All three produce huge numbers of flowers with white petals. But the Christmas Bush from New South Wales (Ceratopetalum gummiferum) doesn’t just stand out because of its white petals. After the flowers start to die, the outer layer of the flower (the sepals) swells and turns bright red. You might find you notice the bright red sepals more than you noticed the white petals!

When you’re out and about over the Christmas break, see if you can spot the white flowers of Bursaria spinosa or Prostanthera lasianthos or the bright red sepals of Ceratopetalum gummiferum.

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Common name: Sundew

The common name for Drosera is Sundew. This is because there’s a sticky substance on the plant’s leaves that looks a lot like morning dew when the sun shines on them.

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Drosera are carnivorous plants that eat insects! Their leaves have hairs with a sticky substance on the end of each hair. When an insect lands on a leaf, it gets stuck. Then ever so slowly the Drosera eats the insect! But how does a plant eat an insect? Once the insect is trapped, the plant releases chemicals that slowly break down the insect, freeing nutrients from the insect for the plant to absorb. And why would a plant eat an insect? The soil in many parts of Australia is low in some nutrients plants need to grow and function. Eating insects is an adaptation that allows a plant to get the nutrients it needs from a source other than the soil. Amazing! As if a plant that eats insects wasn’t interesting enough, some Drosera also move! For example, when an insect touches a sticky hair of the Pimpernel Sundew (Drosera glanduligera), the hair flicks the insect into the centre of the leaf, which is covered in even more sticky stuff, trapping the insect. Pimpernel Sundew is one of the fastest moving plants in the world. If you blink you will miss it moving, it’s that fast! Although the initial ‘flick’ is very fast, sometimes the hair continues to bend over more slowly, as if to make sure the insect is truly trapped!

See if you can spot an insect on the leaves of a Drosera. If you look closely I’m sure you will find at least one! If you find a Pimpernel Sundew, grab a little twig and gently touch the end of one of its hairs and watch it flick over!

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Genus name: Eremophila

The genus name for Emu Bush (Eremophila) tells you something about where this plant likes to live. The name Eremophila means ‘desert-lover’ because you often find Emu Bush growing in dry parts of Australia.

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Some Indigenous Australians use certain species of Emu Bush as medicine to treat headaches, colds, chest pain and fevers, among other things. Scientists are now investigating the medicinal properties of Emu Bush. Maybe one day a chemical from Emu Bush will be made into a medicine that helps fight a nasty disease. The potential medicinal use of Emu Bush is one of many good reasons why we should protect plant species around Australia and the world. Scientists are only just beginning to discover some of the amazing medicinal properties of some plants. If we don’t protect plants, we might miss out on discovering a medicine for an incurable disease. Plants really are amazing! But Emu Bush doesn’t look like an Emu. That’s true! Emu Bush gets its common name because Emus like to eat its fruit.

Emu Bush flowers can be yellow, orange, red, pink, violet, bright purple and more. You can even find spotty ones! See how many different-coloured Emu Bush flowers you can find.

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Species name: Licuala ramsayi

Traditionally, some Indigenous Australians used the leaves of Fan Palm to build shelters, make baskets and to wrap food.

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The fruit of Fan Palm is an important food for the Southern Cassowary. Fan Palms produce fruit in the wet season when there is less food for the Southern Cassowary. So Southern Cassowaries eat the fruit and spread the seeds from inside the fruit around the forest in their poo! Having seeds that are spread around in animal poo is a great adaptation. It means seeds can be spread far and wide because animals can move a long way from the place where they eat to the place where they poo. And poo is full of useful nutrients and water. These help the seeds to grow! But just because a seed can travel a long way doesn’t necessarily mean the plant can grow there. Sure, a seed that germinates in poo can get nutrients and water at first, but eventually it has to get those things from its environment. If the soil doesn’t have the right nutrients or if the area is too dry, then the plant may not survive. Fan Palm and Southern Cassowary both live in tropical forests in northern Queensland (see the map at the back of the book). Southern Cassowary can be found all through this area but Fan Palm tends to grow only close to the coast. Interesting?

See if you can build a little shelter out of the Fan Palm leaves you find lying around on the ground.

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Genera names: Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora

Gum Trees are the tallest flowering plant on Earth! In Tasmania there’s a Gum Tree that is so tall it has been given a name: Centurion. In 2018 it was measured at 100.5 metres tall! That’s almost as high as the Sydney Harbour Bridge – wow!

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Many Gum Trees are adapted to survive fire. Some produce lignotubers. These are woody swellings at the base of the trunk that contain buds and food. If fire destroys the old trunk, new trunks can grow from buds in the lignotuber. If you see a Gum Tree with multiple smaller trunks instead of one main trunk, it could have re-sprouted from a lignotuber. This can happen following a fire but it can also happen if the trunk has been cut down or broken off. Epicormic buds are another adaptation that help some Gum Trees to survive fire. They are found just under the bark of the tree trunk. When a fire comes through and burns all the leaves and branches, these epicormic buds can quickly sprout new leaves to keep the tree alive. Epicormic buds can also grow into new branches. If you see a tree that looks shaggy, with lots of short leafy clumps growing from the trunk instead of only a few big branches, then it has probably re-sprouted from epicormic buds. The gum in the name Gum Tree refers to the sticky red sap that sometimes seeps out of the trunk or branch if the bark is damaged, especially if the damage is caused by a boring insect. Fresh sap from Gum Trees is an important food source for Sugar Gliders. They chisel into the bark of a Gum Tree to reach the sap, leaving scratchy digging marks on the tree.

See if you can spot some sap on a Gum Tree. And if you’re in Sugar Glider habitat in eastern or northern Australia, see if you can spot some chisel marks on the bark. These could have been caused by a hungry Sugar Glider looking for some fresh sap!

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Genus name: Hibiscus

Some Hibiscus are edible. You can eat just about the whole plant, including the flowers, fruit, roots and leaves. For example, people use the flower buds of some Hibiscus to make rosella jam. But watch out! Although many Hibiscus are edible, some may be poisonous.

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Hibiscus have beautiful, often brightly coloured flowers that are sometimes quite large and eye-catching. Flowers are usually made up of three main parts: petals, pollen and a pistil. These can be tricky words to remember so it might help to think of them as ‘the three Ps’ of flower parts. Petals are modified leaves that are often coloured and can be scented. One of the jobs of petals is to attract pollinators such as insects. Pollen is often yellow and powdery and found in little bundles. The job of pollen is to reach an egg in the pistil to create a seed. The pistil is often in the centre of the flower and can be a bit sticky on top. The job of the pistil is to catch pollen and allow that pollen to reach an egg. But how does the pollen get to the pistil? Often this is the job of a pollinator. A pollinator can be an insect, bird or another animal like a mammal. Pollinators are often attracted to flowers because the flowers produce sweet nectar, which pollinators like to eat. While the pollinator is eating the nectar in one flower, a few pollen grains might stick on its body. Then, when it moves to another flower, it might bump into the top of the pistil, dropping a few pollen grains. The pollen then moves down the pistil until it reaches the egg.

See if you can spot some pollen in a Hibiscus flower. If you touch it you might notice a few pollen grains fall off onto your finger. You could even try transferring some of this pollen from your finger to the pistil of another flower, just like a pollinator!

And why does all this happen? For a seed to develop and grow into a new plant, pollen needs to reach and fuse with an egg. This process is called fertilisation. The fertilised egg then develops into a seed which may one day grow into a new plant. So, Hibiscus flowers are not only pretty, they’re also important! They produce the parts that fuse to form seeds so new plants can grow!

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Genus name: Indigofera

Traditionally, some Indigenous Australians used one species of Indigo (Indigofera australis) to catch fish! When added to water, crushed parts of this plant can kill or stun fish making them easy to catch!

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Indigo plants have special bulges on their roots, called nodules, where bacteria live. These bacteria take nitrogen from the air and share it with the plant. In exchange, the plant gives the bacteria sugar. It makes sugar in its leaves during photosynthesis. Now that is good sharing! This relationship between the plant and the bacteria is an example of symbiosis. Symbiosis is a fancy way of saying that the bacteria and the plant help each other to survive. Indigo aren’t the only plants that have root nodules. Most plants from the pea family have root nodules. These include the pea plants you might grow in your vegie garden. How and why are plants divided up into families and genera and species? You can think about it like this: If you buy a bag of mixed lollies you could call all the lollies a family because they are all lollies and all broadly similar. If you divide your lollies up into different piles depending on what type of lolly they are (for example, one pile for chocolates, another for toffees, and another for jelly sweets) these could be your genera (because they are more similar to each other). If you divide your pile of jelly sweets up even further (for example, snakes, jelly babies and gummy bears) then you could call these your species of lollies (because they are even more similar to each other, so similar you can’t easily tell them apart anymore). So dividing plants up into families, genera and species is just a way to group and describe them. Leaves of Indigo plants from around the world are used to produce a natural dye called indigo. It is usually blue but can produce purple tones, like the flowers of Indigofera australis. The name Indigofera actually means ‘bearing indigo’!

See if you can buy an Indigo plant (or any plant from the pea family) from a native nursery near you. Before you plant it, tap the plant out of the pot and explore the roots. If you look really hard you might be lucky and find a nodule or two.

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Genus name: Jasminum

Native Jasmine flowers are white, star-shaped and have a strong smell. The smell can be so strong you may find you smell the flowers before you spot the plant!

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Native Jasmine plants can grow as shrubs but they can also grow as climbers. A climber is a plant that uses another plant or a structure to move upwards. Climbers often do this by twining their stems around the supportive object and slowly working their way up. Climbing upwards gives the plant access to more sunlight, because the higher they go the less other things are in the way to block the light. But why do plants want sunlight? Because they use sunlight to make food! This process is called photosynthesis. Plants usually photosynthesise in the green parts of their leaves, in a place called a chloroplast. The key ingredients for photosynthesis are nutrients and water from the soil, carbon dioxide from the air and energy from sunlight. Plants use these to make sugars, which give the plants the energy they need to grow! This is great for plants but photosynthesis is also great for the environment and for you too. Humans and other animals benefit from this energy by eating plants. Next time you munch on a leafy green vegetable, think about the fact that the energy you get from it has been produced by photosynthesis! Another great thing is that plants take in carbon dioxide when they photosynthesise. Scientists believe that the extra carbon dioxide humans are releasing into the air is changing the climate. Climate change causes countries like Australia to become hotter and drier. To help fight climate change, we can protect plants from land clearing and grow more plants to remove more carbon dioxide from the air. And there’s one more amazing thing about this process: photosynthesis produces oxygen, which we need to breathe to live! Plants release it out of the stomata in their leaves and then you and I breathe it in. Wow, there really are a lot of great bonuses to photosynthesis!

When you find a Native Jasmine flower, have a little sniff. Can you smell the fragrance? Do you think it would make a nice perfume or is it a bit strong?

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Genera names: Anigozanthos and Macropidia

The Red and Green Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos manglesii) is the floral emblem of Western Australia. All states and territories in Australia have a flower as a symbol. Floral emblems are usually common or well-known plants growing in that state or territory.

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Birds such as honeyeaters and wattlebirds pollinate Kangaroo Paw. When a bird’s head knocks into the pollen of a Kangaroo Paw, the pollen is deposited on a specific part of the bird’s head. The bird then transfers the pollen to the pistil of another flower of the same species. Each species of Kangaroo Paw deposits pollen on a different part of a bird’s head. This means that pollen from one species isn’t easily transferred to another species. If pollen from one species does reach another closely related species, then a seed might be produced. If a plant grows from that seed, it may look a bit like both species: the species that produced pollen and the species that produced the egg. Plants that grow from two different species like this are called hybrids. Hybrids between different species are commonly found in nature when the two species grow nearby. Some hybrids can be very beautiful, so sometimes nurseries create hybrids. This includes lots of amazing-looking hybrid Kangaroo Paws, which you can buy to grow in your garden.

The name Kangaroo Paw comes from the flowers, which are covered in thick hairs and shaped like the paw of a kangaroo. Have a look at a Kangaroo Paw flower. Does it look a bit like the paw of a kangaroo to you?

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Genus name: Syzygium

The fruit of some species of Lilly Pilly are edible. For example, the fruit of Syzygium smithii is often made into jams and sauces.

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Lilly Pilly plants can produce a lot of fruit. We’ve all heard of fruits before because we eat them, but do you know what fruits actually are? Technically, a fruit is the ovary of a flower that has swollen around the seed. Remember we talked about pistils and eggs in ‘H – Hibiscus’? The ovary of a flower contains eggs and is found inside the pistil. When pollen comes in close contact with an egg, a seed starts to develop, and in some plants the ovary starts to swell up too. The swollen ovary protects the seed while it develops. Fruits are often fleshy, which can attract animals to eat them and then spread the seeds. If you break a true fruit in half, you should find a seed. There can be more than one egg in an ovary and more than one ovary in a pistil. This means there can be more than one seed in a fruit. Lilly Pilly fruits generally only have one seed in the middle, like peaches and cherries, but other fruits can have more than one seed, like watermelon and apples. Cucumbers and tomatoes also have multiple seeds, and although we call them vegetables, scientifically speaking they are actually fruits! Lilly Pilly fruits aren’t just enjoyed by people – possums, birds and flying-foxes love to eat them too!

If you find some Lilly Pilly fruit lying around on the ground, break one in half and see if you can find the seed. Take it home and plant it in a pot full of soil, put it in a sunny spot and give it some water. You never know, it might grow into another Lilly Pilly tree!

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Genera names: Amyema, Lysiana, Muellerina and many others!

If you are looking for a Mistletoe, often the best place to look is up! That’s because lots of species of Mistletoe don’t grow on the ground, but on the branches of trees.

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Mistletoes are plants that grow on other plants! They have a special root that they use to tap into the other plants’ water and nutrients, which the Mistletoe uses to help it grow. This special root is called a haustoria. Plants that grow on other plants are often referred to as parasites. Mistletoes have a great way of getting their seeds onto the branches of host plants where they can grow. Their fruit is often bright and tasty, with seeds that are covered in a very sticky coat. Birds eat the fruit, but the seed is so sticky the birds have to wipe it off, either from their beak or their bottom, depending on if they swallowed it or not. They often wipe it off on the branch of a tree, which is exactly where the seed needs to be to grow! Birds love eating Mistletoe fruit, and scientists are discovering that in areas where Mistletoe grows there are often a lot more bird species compared to areas without Mistletoe. Some councils are even trying to get Mistletoe to grow on street trees to attract more birds. What a great idea! You might hear some people say that Mistletoes aren’t good because they can kill their host plant. But this isn’t generally true at all. It’s not in the best interest of a Mistletoe to kill its host plant because then it loses its source of nutrients and water supply. If too many Mistletoes grow on a tree and the tree does die it generally means the tree was already unhealthy.

See if you can spot an odd bunch of leaves hanging from a tree. Compare the leaves of this bunch to the leaves on the rest of the tree. Do they look the same? If they look a bit different – you might have found yourself a Mistletoe.

Species of Mistletoe sometimes look a lot like the plant they grow on. But they aren’t usually exactly the same. For example, the leaves are often a slightly different colour green or a slightly different shape or thickness. A good way to spot a Mistletoe is to look for a big clump of leaves that look slightly different from the rest of the leaves on the tree.

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Species name: Disphyma crassifolium subspecies clavellatum

Pretty much every part of Noon-flower is edible. Some people grow Noon-flower in their garden and use the leaves in stirfries and salads. The liquid that is stored in Noon-flower leaves is also used by some people to soothe skin in much the same way as you might have heard Aloe vera is used.

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Noon-flower is an Australian native plant that is succulent. A succulent plant is one that holds extra water in its leaves or stems, so they become thick and fleshy. Why are some plants succulent? There are two good reasons: one is to store water for use later. This can help a plant survive the dry periods, like during summer in southern Australia. Another reason some plants are succulent is to dilute the salt in the plant leaves. You often find succulent plants growing in salty areas, such as the coast, where other plants can’t easily survive. Until recently, most people thought Australia did not have many native succulent plants! Australia actually has a few hundred species that have some form of succulence. One reason Australia’s succulent plants have been overlooked is that they are generally quite small and might shrivel up when dry, so they don’t stand out. But they are still there to be found if you look! Noon-flowers look a lot like another Australian succulent with a funny name: Pig-face (Carpobrotus). They both have similar-sized succulent leaves and they both have bright pink flowers. They look so similar that sometimes Noon-flower is called Pigface, which is very confusing. You can usually tell the two apart by the shape of their leaves. When broken in half, Noon-flower leaves are generally rounded while Pig-face leaves are generally more triangular.

If you find a Noon-flower planted in a park or garden, break a leaf in half and give it a squeeze. If you watch and wait you should start to see a watery liquid ooze out.

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Family name: Orchidaceae

Orchid flowers come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Some of the craziershaped orchid flowers include the duck orchids that look like tiny little flying ducks, spider orchids that have long dangly sepals like spiders’ legs, and bearded orchids that have a long hairy ‘beard’. The picture on this page is of one of the brightest coloured orchids in Australia, the Queen of Sheba. It has purples, yellows and reds that are so bright they almost look like they glow!

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Australian native orchid flowers come in all sorts of funny shapes, sizes and colours. The reason for all this variation is to attract a very specific pollinator to the flower. And when I say very specific, I mean it! For example, the Flying Duck Orchid (Caleana major) emits the smell of a female thynnine wasp to attract the male, who thinks he is mating with a female. Instead, he is covered in pollen while he mates with a flower. When he moves to another Flying Duck Orchid flower to try and mate again, the pollen is transferred to the pistil and with any luck a seed will be produced. This is pretty cool, but it can also put the orchid at risk. If anything happens to the insect that the orchid relies on to reproduce, then that orchid species might not be able to reproduce and could become extinct. Many orchid species also have a very special symbiotic relationship with species of fungi growing in the soil. This relationship has a special name: mycorrhiza. The fungi provide the orchid with the water and nutrients it needs to grow. If something happens to the species of fungi the orchid relies on, then the orchid may not survive. So orchid plants are vulnerable in many ways.

Australian orchid plants are often small, low to the ground, and sometimes camouflaged. They can be hard to spot. Next time you’re out for a walk in a nice bit of bushland, especially during late winter and spring, look closely on the ground and among the leaf litter. If you’re lucky you might spot an orchid flower.

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Genus name: Ptilotus

Some species of Pussy Tail put on mass flower displays. This is when a huge number of plants of the same species flower at the same time over a large area, with flowers as far as the eye can see. It looks amazing; almost a bit magical!

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The name Pussy Tail is just one of the many common names people use for species of the genus Ptilotus. Another commonly used name is Mulla Mulla. But there are many more, including Foxtails, Lamb’s Tails and Pom-poms. Lots of these common names relate to the flowers, which look feathery. In fact, the scientific name Ptilotus actually means feathered. Sometimes it’s hard for scientists to work out if a plant is one species or more than one species. There’s a special type of scientist called a taxonomist whose job is to identify and describe different species. In the past, taxonomists studied the appearance of plants to tell one species from another. But nowadays taxonomists often look at other things too, like where it grows (its geography), how it grows (its ecology) or variation in the codes in its cells (its DNA). DNA is short for a really long word (deoxyribonucleic acid). It’s quite a tongue-twister so we say DNA for short. DNA is found in cells. Sections of DNA (called genes) contain instructions that ‘tell’ living things how to grow and function. All living things have DNA and this DNA is often a bit different from one species to the next. These differences are what taxonomists use to help work out one species from another.

Run the back of your hand along the flower of a Pussy Tail. Does it feel soft like a feather? Do you think it looks like the tail of a cat? Or fox? Or lamb?

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Species name: Santalum acuminatum

Quandong are sometimes called native peach because their fruit tastes a little bit like – you guessed it – a peach. The fruit can be dried and is edible for up to eight years. And it’s got twice as much vitamin C as an orange!

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Quandong fruit is edible. Once the fruit is eaten, people use Quandong seeds for all sorts of interesting things, like marbles, or beads for necklaces, or to massage their feet. The inside of the seed has antibacterial properties and has been used to heal skin injuries and treat toothache. Aside from being able to eat the fruit and use the seeds, people use Quandongs for other things too. The wood is very oily, so it can be used to start a fire using friction. Quandongs are parasites that produce special haustoria roots just like Mistletoe. But Quandongs are different because they get water and nutrients directly from the roots of host plants, not the branches (like Mistletoe). Quandongs often rely on more than one host plant at a time. Their roots can spread to 10 metres in search of hosts, which can be other trees, but can also be smaller plants, like grasses. It’s pretty cool to think that a small grass plant could be providing water and nutrients for a massive Quandong tree!

See if you can find some Quandong seeds on the ground around a Quandong tree. They look a bit like small woody brains! Can you think of a creative use for them? Maybe you could make a Quandong run (instead of a marble run) or use them to play a mini game of bocce or bowls!

Quandongs are hardy plants that often grow in hot, dry parts of Australia, such as deserts and scrublands. Lack of water makes it hard to grow other sorts of fruit trees in these areas, so some people grow Quandong trees instead, to enjoy fresh, tasty fruit straight off the tree. Great idea!

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Genus name: Pimelea

The bark of some species of Rice Flower is very strong, so strong that traditionally some Indigenous Australians have stripped the bark from the plant, dried it and then used it to make nets to catch Bogong Moths to eat.

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When it comes to the three Ps (petals, pollen and pistil), Rice Flowers are a bit different. This is because Rice Flowers don’t have petals at all, they have sepals instead! The sepals of most plants are green and surround the petals, but for Rice Flowers the sepals are all sorts of colours. And that’s not the only weird thing about Rice Flowers. Some Rice Flower plants only have one of the three Ps: just pollen or just a pistil, not both! Observing little differences in plants, like the flowers of Rice Flower, is the first step to identifying different species in the bush. If you want to know what species you’re looking at, start by examining the flowers, leaves, fruit and overall structure of the plant. Ask yourself: how many petals does the flower have, what colour are they, do all the flowers have pollen and a pistil, is there anything else unusual about the flower? Then look at the shape and size of the leaves and where they grow on the stem. Keep an eye out for hairs: are the leaves hairy, what kind of hairs do they have – long and silky or short and rough, just on one side or all over? Look at the size, shape and colour of the fruit. For the overall structure of the plant ask yourself: is it a soft little herb or does it have woody stems, does it climb over other plants or is it upright? Once you start noticing the details of the plants you’re looking at you can use this information to look through local field guides, or search on plant identification apps, or use online descriptions and keys to start working out what species you have found. But watch out, it’s addictive! Once you start identifying species you won’t want to stop!

Next time you find a Rice Flower, have a look at the flowers. Can you see that there are only sepals and no petals? Can you find any flowers that only have pollen or a pistil?

There are a lot of plants in this book that are known to be edible, but Rice Flowers are not one of them. There are actually some species of Rice Flower that grow naturally on arid grazing land in Australia which are very poisonous to cattle. 43

Common name: Trigger Plant

Stylidium are commonly known as Trigger Plants, and there’s a good reason. It’s because when the flowers are triggered (touched), they move!

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Stylidium are special because they have flowers that move! The pollen and pistil parts are fused into a structure that flips forward when touched. How does it work? The pollen matures first and is ready for a pollinator. When an insect touches the trigger, bang! It flips over, shooting pollen onto the insect’s back. The trigger then resets into catch mode, and nothing much happens until the pistil matures. Then the wait is on for another insect to visit, hopefully with pollen already on its back from another plant. Bang! The trigger flips over again, catching the pollen which will then try to reach the ovary, fuse and make a seed. Some plants have pollen and a pistil that mature at different times to avoid self-fertilising and encourage cross-pollination. Cross-pollination is a fancy way of saying that pollen from one plant fuses with the egg of another plant. Self-fertilising is when pollen fuses with an egg from the same flower or plant. Cross-pollination is a good thing because when the different pollen and egg fuse, the seed gets one set of genes from one plant and a second set from a different plant. Having genes from different plants gives the plant more chances to survive and reproduce. Some Stylidium species are also covered in sticky hairs all over their stems and the back of the flowers. Scientists used to think that Stylidium use these hairs in a similar way to carnivorous Drosera plants, to trap and eat insects. However, recent research suggests this might not be the case. Scientists are now wondering whether these sticky hairs may be a way to stop insects from eating the plant (by trapping them) instead of a way for the plant to get nutrients from the insects.

Try and set off the trigger of a Stylidium by gently nudging it with a fine twig. It moves fast so make sure you watch closely. And while you’re there do a bit of ‘insect trapping’ research. Can you spot any sticky hairs on the stems or the back of the flowers? Are there any insects trapped in them?

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Genera names: Cyathea and Dicksonia

Scientists believe Tree Ferns have been around for 200 million years. That’s way before dinosaurs! In fact, if you ever want to imagine what the world might have looked like when dinosaurs were around, take yourself to a forest full of Tree Ferns, stand under one and look around!

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The trunk of a Tree Fern is not made of wood covered in bark like the trunk of a Gum Tree. Instead a Tree Fern trunk is made of special stems covered in roots. These special stems are called rhizomes. Rhizomes are able to produce shoots and roots along their length. Lots of plants have rhizomes, but most of them produce stems that grow along or under the ground. Tree Ferns are different because their rhizomes grow upwards instead. And because the trunk of Tree Ferns is made of roots, for some species you don’t need to dig up the roots to move them! The leaves of ferns have a special name: a frond. Tree Fern fronds are big leaves made up of a stalk and a leaf blade that supports many smaller leaflets. Tree Fern fronds are big; they can grow up to 4 metres long! Having big fronds allows the Tree Fern to catch enough light to grow in shaded forests.

See if you can spot the little brown structures containing spores on the underside of a Tree Fern frond (or any fern for that matter, because all ferns produce spores).

Tree Ferns are different to many other types of plants because they don’t produce flowers and pollen. Instead they produce spores, which are like seeds, and can lead to new plants. If you look at the underside of a Tree Fern frond at the right time, you might see rows and rows of little brown dots on the leaflets. These tiny structures contain many spores, which look like pepper. When released, spores produce tiny ‘plants’ called gametophytes. These gametophytes grow a little and then produce gametes. Eggs are one type of gamete they produce, just like in flowering plants. The other type they produce is like pollen found in flowers. When the gametes of Tree Ferns fuse, they may grow into a new Tree Fern.

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Common name: Bladderwort

Utricularia are carnivorous plants like Drosera. But while Drosera tend to trap flying insects, Utricularia often trap swimming creatures! Some have even been known to eat tadpoles! They may only catch their tail but that’s enough to become a Utricularia dinner!

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Utricularia are carnivorous plants. They have special bladders along parts of their stem that are able to catch, trap and eat tiny creatures! These bladders are often below the surface of water or in wet soil. Because of this, many species of Utricularia trap zooplankton. These are tiny creatures that live in water and can be so small that some are made up of just one cell. But they can also include things like mosquito larvae (babies).

See if you can spot a Utricularia growing in water. Look closely at the water; can you see any tiny creatures swimming around? I wonder which one will be the plant’s next meal?

How do they actually catch zooplankton in their bladders? Utricularia use a combination of pressure and trigger hairs to trap these small creatures in their bladders. First the bladders empty themselves of water, which lowers the pressure inside the bladders. Then, when a little creature touches the trigger hairs close to the bladder, the bladder opens and sucks water and any creatures that are nearby into the bladder. Water always moves from an area of high pressure to low pressure until the pressure evens out. The bladder shuts, and the creatures are trapped and eaten in a similar way to Drosera (chemicals break down the creature and the plant then absorbs the nutrients). Then the bladder is reset by emptying the water and waiting for the next little creature to set off the trigger hairs.

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Species name: Hybanthus floribundus

The genus name Hybanthus means ‘hump flower’. This is because the flowers of Shrub Violet have one petal that is a lot bigger than all the other petals and sepals that make up each flower. The one large petal can also often have a different pattern or colours on it compared to the other smaller petals and sepals, so it really stands out.

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Some plants have trouble growing in soil that has high concentrations of the heavy metal nickel. But not Shrub Violet! It is not only able to grow in these soils, it’s also able to take up nickel and store it in its cells in large concentrations. But what is a cell? People describe cells as ‘the building blocks of life’. This is because all living things are made up of cells. Some are made up of only one cell, but many are made up of lots and lots of cells tightly packed together (like bricks on a wall). Each cell is filled with all the things an organism needs to grow and function. The ability of a plant to take up large concentrations of heavy metals into its cells is called hyperaccumulation. Why is this interesting? Soil with high concentrations of heavy metals can be toxic to humans, animals and plants. Sometimes soils are naturally high in certain heavy metals but often it’s the result of industrial pollution. Depending on where the soil is and what the area is used for, sometimes this soil needs to be cleaned up so that it’s not toxic anymore. Plants that are good at taking these heavy metals out of the soil could be used to clean up polluted land. Using plants to clean up soil or water is called phytoremediation – phyto (plant) and remediation (to restore). Maybe one day Shrub Violet will be used to remove nickel and clean up land somewhere.

Next time you find a Shrub Violet flower, get up close and have a good look at the really big petal. Is there a special pattern or colour on the large petal that isn’t on the smaller petals or sepals?

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Species name: Wollemia nobilis

Some scientists described the discovery of the Wollemi Pine as being like finding a dinosaur living in the bush today! That’s because this plant was thought to be extinct until it was found in the Australian bush in 1994. Before this, scientists only knew about the Wollemi Pine from fossil records.

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The story of the discovery of the Wollemi Pine really is an amazing tale! One day a park ranger was travelling through bushland in Wollemi National Park, a few hours outside of Sydney, when he found a group of odd-looking trees that he’d never seen before. He took a sample of the leaves back to Sydney and sought the help of a couple of scientists to try to work out the species of the tree. When they couldn’t work it out, the ranger and the scientists returned to the bush for another look. They quickly realised that the ranger had found a living fossil of a type of plant that scientists thought had been around when dinosaurs existed. They believed it was as extinct as the dinosaurs. But there it was, alive! There are only about 100 adult Wollemi Pines known to exist in the wild. And they are all in one secret location in Wollemi National Park. So, you probably won’t find a Wollemi Pine in the bush. Some Wollemi Pines may be 1000 years old, and it’s possible they haven’t been exposed to modern funguses or diseases, which could be brought in on people’s shoes if their location was made public. To help protect the species, scientists have worked out how to grow Wollemi Pines in nurseries. They’ve had so much success that you can buy Wollemi Pine plants from nurseries around Australia. That means you could grow your very own living fossil at home! Wollemi Pines are conifers, a type of plant that produces cones instead of flowers. One type of cone produces pollen and the other type houses the eggs, which is where the seeds develop. Some conifers produce pollen cones on one plant and eggs on another plant, but Wollemi Pines produce both types of cones on the same plant. The pollen cones are long and thin and a brown-red colour while the egg cones are green, spiky and shaped more like a ball.

Wollemi Pines are now grown in many parks and gardens. Next time you’re at, say, a botanic garden, see if you can find a Wollemi Pine. If there are cones on the plant, see if you can spot the two different types of cone.

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Common name: Grass Tree

Xanthorrhoea have been used by some Indigenous Australians for many different things. For example, old flower stems can be used to make spears and the base of old leaves contains resin that can be used to stick things together.

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The trunk of a Xanthorrhoea isn’t covered in bark, like the trunk of a Gum Tree, or covered in roots, like the trunk of a Tree Fern. Instead, the trunk of Xanthorrhoea is spiky. That’s because its trunk is made up of old leaves that have died and broken off, leaving just their stumpy bases. The old leaves protect the stem of the plant from fire. A fire may burn the green leaves, but the protected stem can survive. Once the fire has passed, the stem produces new green leaves. Also, after a fire has passed, Xanthorrhoea will often flower. They produce tall flowering spikes that for some species can be metres tall, with thousands of flowers all the way up the spike! You will sometimes see mass flowering of Xanthorrhoea in areas that have recently burned. These adaptations help Xanthorrhoea survive fire. But the Xanthorrhoea growing near my house has been there for ages and doesn’t have a trunk – why? Well, some species only grow a very short trunk that is hard to see, or never grow a trunk at all.

Have a competition to see who can spot the tallest Xanthorrhoea. Then see if you can find a Xanthorrhoea with two grassy tops instead of just one!

Genus name: Microseris

The roots of Yam Daisy can be eaten! They look a bit like small, white carrots. Yam Daisy can be eaten raw, when they may taste slightly bitter, or cooked, when they taste sweet and a bit coconutty.

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The ‘flower’ of a Yam Daisy is actually an inflorescence, just like Acacia. That means it is a group of little flowers bunched together to look like one big flower. For Yam Daisy, the stalk that this bunch of flowers sits on bends and straightens, depending on the development of the flowers. When the flowers are developing, the stalk droops at first and the bud hangs down. When the flowers are mature and ready to be pollinated, the stalk straightens up so that the flowers point towards the sky. Once the flowers are pollinated, the stalk droops again, so that the flower head hangs down. Then when the seeds are mature, the stalk straightens again so that the seeds can blow off and disperse. That’s pretty cool! Yam Daisy flowers look very similar to Dandelion flowers and several other plants that are weeds in Australia. A weed is a plant growing somewhere it isn’t really meant to grow. Weeds can become a problem when they grow so well in their new home that they outcompete the plants that grow naturally in that area. Because they look so alike, it can be really hard to tell the difference between a weedy Dandelion and a Yam Daisy. One tip would be, if you find a flower like this in a nature strip or park (like a sports oval), it is probably the weedy species. But if you find a flower that looks like this in a native grassland, you may have found yourself a Yam Daisy!

Next time you find a Yam Daisy have a look at the stalk. Is it bent so that the developing flowers or immature seeds point to the ground, or is it straight so that the mature flowers or ripe seeds are pointing to the sky?

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Genus name: Zieria

Some Zieria species produce oils in their leaves that smell. These smelly oils have been investigated by scientists as potential perfumes and even insect repellent.

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Zieria are part of the citrus family of plants that often have leaves that smell. Lemons, limes and oranges are all in the citrus family too and have leaves that smell. Sometimes this is because the leaves have oil glands dotted over the surface. Sometimes these oil glands are really obvious; you can see them as little flat dots or little raised bumps all over the surface of the leaf. Sometimes the oil glands are less obvious; you can’t actually see anything on the leaf surface, but when you touch the leaf or break it in half you can smell the oil on your fingers. Sometimes the species name helps you guess what the leaves will smell like. For example, Lemonscented Zieria (Zieria citriodora) has leaves that smell like – you guessed it – lemon! In this example both the common name and the scientific name tell you the leaves smell of lemon because citro means citrus-tree and odora means fragrance. There are around 60 species of Zieria in Australia. About one-third of these species are listed as threatened with extinction and are protected to some extent by law. Lemon-scented Zieria is one of these threatened species. Many things can threaten a protected plant species. For example, a weed might be taking over its habitat, or it might lose habitat due to land clearing.

Rub your fingers along the leaf of a Zieria species and see if you can smell the oil. Does it smell (some don’t)? If it does, do you like the smell? Then have a look at the leaf surface. Can you see the oil glands dotted across the surface, either as raised bumps or flat dots?

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TEMPERATE FOREST MONTANE GRASSLANDS AND SHRUBLANDS

DESERTS AND SHRUBLANDS

TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL GRASSLANDS AND SHRUBLANDS

TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS AND SHRUBLANDS

TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FORESTS

SCLEROPHYLL FORESTS AND SCRUB

This map gives you a general idea of which plants are found growing naturally in different parts of Australia. Australia has been divided up into seven ecoregions to show roughly where different plants grow.

less commonly. I’ve also said ‘generally’ because some plants may grow happily in parks and gardens outside their natural range.

The list on the next page contains plants from this book that generally grow naturally in a particular ecoregion. I say ‘generally’ because you may find some of these plants outside the listed range, but usually

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In some cases, for Temperate Forests and Shrublands, you might also notice a state or territory in brackets next to the ecoregion. This is because some plants mostly only grow in one or two states or territories for that ecoregion. For Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub you might sometimes notice ‘east’ or

‘west’ in brackets beside the ecoregion name. This is because some plants that grow in this ecoregion only grow on one side of Australia or the other (east or west).

ACACIA

HIBISCUS

ORCHID

TREE FERN

All of Australia

Deserts and Shrublands, Temperate Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands and Shrublands

Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Montane Grasslands and Shrublands, Temperate Forests, Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Forests

Temperate Forests, Tropical and Subtropical Forests

BANKSIA Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Temperate Forests, Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Forests CHRISTMAS BUSH • Bursaria spinosa Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub (east), Temperate Forests • Prostanthera lasianthos Temperate Forests • Ceratopetalum gummiferum Temperate Forests (New South Wales)

DROSERA Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Temperate Forests, Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Forests EMU BUSH Deserts and Shrublands, Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Temperate Forests (New South Wales and Queensland), Temperate Grasslands and Shrublands FAN PALM Tropical and Subtropical Forests

INDIGO Deserts and Shrublands, Temperate Forests, Temperate Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Forests JASMINE (NATIVE) Deserts and Shrublands, Temperate Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Forests KANGAROO PAW

PUSSY TAIL Deserts and Shrublands, Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Temperate Forests (Victoria and Tasmania), Tropical and Subtropical Forests QUANDONG Deserts and Shrublands (South Australia and southern Northern Territory), Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Temperate Grasslands and Shrublands RICE FLOWER

Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub (west)

All of Australia

LILLY PILLY

STYLIDIUM

Temperate Forests (excluding Tasmania), Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Forests

Deserts and Shrublands (Western Australia and Northern Territory), Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Montane Grasslands and Shrublands, Temperate Forests, Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Forests

MISTLETOE All of Australia (excluding Tasmania)

UTRICULARIA Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Temperate Forests, Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands and Shrublands, Tropical and Subtropical Forests VIOLET (SHRUB) Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub WOLLEMI PINE Wollemi National Park

XANTHORRHOEA Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Temperate Forests, Tropical and Subtropical Forests YAM DAISY Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Montane Grasslands and Shrublands, Temperate Forests

ZIERIA Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub (east), Temperate Forests, Tropical and Subtropical Forests

NOON-FLOWER Sclerophyll Forests and Scrub, Temperate Forests (Victoria and Tasmania)

GUM TREE All of Australia

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This glossary includes some words that may be new to you and provides a short description based on the plants included in this book. Many of these words apply to other plants, or animals or living things in general.

ADAPTATION

FAMILY

HYBRID

a feature of a plant that helps it or its offspring survive in its environment

a group of plants that are broadly similar to each other, usually containing several genera

a plant that has grown when the pollen from one species of plant fertilises an egg from another species of plant

BACTERIA a living thing made up of a single cell that lacks a middle area called a nucleus CARNIVOROUS a plant able to trap and digest small organisms, like insects CHLOROPLAST a structure in plant cells where photosynthesis occurs CULTIVATED a plant that is grown for a purpose (such as a plant grown as a crop or a garden plant) DESERT a very dry area of land that receives very little rainfall; any vegetation is often low growing and sparse ECOREGION a way of describing an area of land with a specific combination of weather, soils, plants and animals that make it distinct (such as a desert) EPICORMIC BUDS buds found just under the bark of some trees, which can sprout into new leaves or branches to help the tree survive if it is damaged by fire or wind, for example

FERTILISATION when gametes fuse GAMETES eggs and sperm. In flowering plants, eggs are found in the ovary and sperm is found in the pollen. In plants such as ferns, eggs and sperm are produced by the gametophyte

HYPERACCUMULATION the ability of some plants to take up large concentrations of heavy metals and store them in their cells INFLORESCENCE a group of flowers growing closely together

GAMETOPHYTES

LARVA (PLURAL LARVAE)

in ferns, gametophytes are tiny ‘plants’ that produce gametes

the ‘baby’ life stage of an insect

GENES

LIGNOTUBER

information that determines the features of a plant; this information is passed on from the plant’s parents to its offspring

a woody swelling at the base of some tree trunks that contains buds and food and out of which new trunks can grow if the old trunk is damaged

GENUS (PLURAL GENERA)

MONTANE GRASSLAND

a group of plants that are all quite similar to each other (more similar than those in a family)

a type of vegetation that grows only at high altitudes and is dominated by grass or grass-like plants

HAUSTORIA

MYCORRHIZA

a special type of root from one plant which attaches to another plant to tap into its water and nutrient supply

a special relationship between a plant and a fungus NECTAR a sweet liquid that is produced in some flowers to attract pollinators (like bees)

NITROGEN

PISTIL

an important nutrient plants need to grow

the part of a flower where the egg is found

NODULES

POLLEN

swellings on the roots of some plants, containing bacteria that are able to convert nitrogen into a form that plants can take up

the part of the flower that contains sperm which fuses with an egg in the pistil to form a seed

ORGANISM a living thing able to grow, function and reproduce (plants, animals, fungi and bacteria are all organisms) PARASITE a plant that grows on another plant and gets things it needs to grow from the host plant PETAL found in flowers, often coloured and can be scented to attract pollinators such as insects PHOTOSYNTHESIS a chemical reaction that occurs in the green parts of plants, where nutrients, water, carbon dioxide and light are used to make sugars PHYLLODE a leaf stalk that is modified to function (and often look like) a leaf PHYTOREMEDIATION using plants to clean up soil or water

POLLINATOR an organism (often an insect) that helps to transfer pollen to the pistil PROTEOID ROOTS roots that are clustered close together and help the plant get nutrients out of the soil RHIZOME a special type of stem that is able to produce new shoots as well as new roots SCLEROPHYLL plants that generally have small, tough leaves which reduce water loss SEPAL the outer layer of many flowers, often small, green and leaf-like SHRUBLAND an area where the vegetation is mainly shrubs (woody plants that are generally shorter than trees and often multi-stemmed)

STOMA (PLURAL STOMATA) tiny holes found on the surface of leaves, where gases move in and out of the plant and water is lost SUBTROPICAL a zone that generally has hot summers and mild winters SUCCULENT a fleshy-looking plant able to hold extra water in its leaves or stems or both SYMBIOSIS when two organisms (like a plant and a bacteria) live together and help each other in some way (for example, the plant gives the bacteria sugar and the bacteria gives the plant nutrients) TAXONOMIST a scientist whose job is to identify and describe different species TEMPERATE a zone that generally has a moderate climate, with minimal extremes in temperatures TROPICAL a zone that is generally hot and wet

WEED a plant growing somewhere it isn’t meant to grow or doesn’t grow naturally ZOOPLANKTON tiny creatures that are so small they are sometimes made up of just one cell

‘They’ say it takes a village to raise a child, and ‘they’ aren’t wrong. Since embarking on the adventure of writing this book I’ve discovered it also takes a village (in this case a botanical village) to write a book! First, the botanists! Thanks to Kevin Thiele whose enthusiasm for the idea – ‘You have to write this book!’ – was the final trigger I needed to start writing, and for reviewing the book for me too. Thanks to Timothy Hammer for supporting the book right from the beginning and for helping come up with the first draft list of plants and reviewing the Pussy Tail page. Thanks to Matthew Dell for reading my book proposal and encouraging me in the early stages of the book. Thanks to Pauline Ladiges for providing very useful feedback on the first draft, feedback that helped me tighten up the text and ensure every detail was right. Thanks to Daniel Ohlsen for taking the time to review the whole book (with a particular focus on Fan Palm and Tree Fern), for providing enthusiastic feedback – ‘This book is plantastic!’ – and also for suggesting which species would look great in the illustrations. Thanks to Rose Barrett for a review of the book with a focus on Zieria. Thanks to Francis Nge for his review of the Stylidium page and for being there right at the beginning when I decided to write the book. Thanks to Todd McLay for a review of the book and a focus on Hibiscus and Xanthorrhoea. Thanks to Rachael Fowler for her review of Emu Bush, and Patrick Fahey for his review of Gum Tree. And a big general thanks to my laboratory mates (Grace Boxshall, Harvey Orel, Kia Matley, Will Neal, Michael Bayly and Michael Whitehead, as well as Rachael Fowler and Patrick Fahey [again]) for listening to me endlessly talk about the book every time we ran into each other in the office at university. Next the publishing team! I wrote this book out of frustration that such a book wasn’t available for me to read to my kids. With no book-publishing experience, I had no idea about the process or what

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to expect. I also felt a world of responsibility to ‘get this book right’, given the lack of a similar book in print. Lucky I’ve been looked after by an amazing and very experienced publishing team, all of whom have been so positive and supportive of my idea! Thank you to Briana Melideo for all her initial support for the project and getting me signed up to deliver. Thanks to Lauren Webb for helping me through the manuscript delivery phase of the book. Thanks to Nan McNab who has taken this book to the next level, helping me simplify complicated concepts, tighten up some (at times) very long sentences and generally make the text easier for kids to read! Thank you to Tracey Kudis for all her help during the production stage, accommodating a gaggle of final tweaks to help make sure the book looks and reads perfectly. And last but not least, thanks to Rachel Gyan for her amazing illustrations which are not only bright and cute but are also very accurate too! Then there are my friends! Thanks to many local mum buddies (especially Joanne McCafferty, Catherine Haywood, Carissa Taylor, Louise Lowe, Rebecca McIlroy, Amy Mayne, Tamara Coupe and Micaela McGee), who have had to put up with me telling them about this book, every time we run into each other at kinder, school, the park, café, etc. Thanks to my long-time school buddies (especially Katie Lacorcia, Alice O’Hehir, Rebecca Lean and Renee Mobilio) who enthusiastically listen to my book progress every time we catch up. And of course, my family! Thanks to my husband (Malcolm Pratt), mum (Jean Clowes), sister (Jaime Clowes), mother-in-law (Janet Pratt), sister-in-law (Laura Pratt) and kids (Matilda and Lachlan) in particular, who, despite knowing I have way too many jobs and hobbies already and not enough time, always seem to find a way to support my ideas, big and small!

Did you know that there are plants that eat insects? Plants whose seeds spread in poo? Plants that move when you touch them? And plants that grow on other plants? Plantastic! presents 26 of Australia’s most unique and incredible native plants. Discover and identify native plants found in your local park, bushland, or even in your very own backyard. With its perfect balance of fun facts, activities, adventurous ideas and gorgeous illustrations, Plantastic! will prove just how fantastic Australia’s native plants really are!

Catherine Clowes is a botanist and a teacher with a passion for Australian native plants. She works as a field botanist, is completing a PhD in botany and loves teaching students about the wonders of the plant world. Catherine wrote this book for her two kids, and she is excited to be able to share it with other young explorers too!

Rachel Gyan is an illustrator passionate about artful storytelling. Her heart-warming characters are empowered by whimsy, texture and vibrant colour palettes. Rachel enjoys studying Australian flora and wildlife, drawing inspiration from her surroundings to capture the beautiful and quirky nature of Australia in her work.

CHILDREN’S NON-FICTION