Tasmanian Plants

I have been silent, like the plants I study.

There is no easy way to state this so I state it simply.

Swiftly but surely, my time in Tasmania has come to an end.

Five years I have been in Tasmania, the plant life there has left an indelible mark on my psyche.

Such are the ways of plants. They enter ones awareness in the most unobtrusive of ways. And they leave a void in their absence.

But this void is meant to be.

There can be no one who is touched by the grace of botanical beauty who will fail to strive towards attaining another glimpse of that drunken ecstasy.

The ecstasy of seeing yet another plant that I have never laid eyes upon, smell yet another Christmas mint, see the heath blossoms emerge for yet another year, and yet another year.

Five years in Tasmania. A lifetime of memories. Memories of flowers. Memories of ferns. Memories of trees.

And most of all, memories of the people whom have imparted to me their very own affection for plants, even though they might not have said so in as revealing a fashion.

I will continue to write of the plants of beautiful Tasmania, if only to commemorate the loveliness of her flora, but every post must necessarily now be one written from a great distance – a distance that make the heart grow fonder.

A great deal of life’s most positive philosophy can be gleaned from a healthy obsession with plants. Let me elaborate.

1. LIFE IS FOR APPRECIATING
Everywhere a plant lover goes, there are green things to appreciate. Plants are everywhere. Phytoplankton abounds in the open ocean. In the Death Valley, one of the driest places on earth, seeds are lying in wait for the next rain. Even in the Arctic and the Antarctica, there are plants. But the bulk of plant lovers are not going to be in those harsh habitats, which means that where they are, they are usually SURROUNDED by plants. Imagine being around that which gives you joy on a constant basis. Not to mention the diversity of that the vegetable world adds to our choice of food, whether in the kitchen or in the bush. There is indeed so much to appreciate that there is no time for thoughts on loss.

2. LIFE IS FOR DESIRING…AND SEEING
The plant lover hears of or sees a photo or illustration of a plant he/she has never seen before. The desire to know and see this new plant duly becomes another reason to live another day. I have accumulated a long too-see-list. A plant lover thus is a philosopher of sorts, a lover of knowledge! Perhaps more accurately, a plant lover is a philovoyant (a made-up word of philos and voir, meaning ‘lover of’ and ‘to see’ respectively) – a plant lover loves to SEE!

3. LIFE IS FOR GIVING
There is nothing more a plant lover desire to do more than something plant-related. This may involve studying or planting them which ultimately results in some form of writing about them, talking about them, displaying them in photographs or illustrations etc. All these activities are forms of giving. In the heart of every plant lover is the desire to share of the magic in what he/she sees!

4. LIFE IS ONE (it is co-evolutionary)
It is true that plants and other animals would continue to exist if humans were taken out of the picture. But really, that statement doesn’t make any philosophical sense. It arises from a one-sided and unenlightened perspective. Consider for a moment that plants and man are partners in co-evolution. Consider that we (the humans) present one of the most powerful evolutionary forces for our plant counterparts, just as they (the plants) have shaped the course of our history and will shape the course of our future. We are the impetus for their change! And the plant world is changing, and not necessarily for the worst. New and wondrous forms will continue to arise, even while we let the old depart gracefully. Rarity becomes treasured and cherished. There is nothing to save. There is only that to embrace and as always, there is joy in the process.

5. THE JOY OF LIFE IS IN THE JOURNEY
There is no end to the seeking of a plant lover. In fact, there is no end to anything. Plant lovers are in a privileged position to understand this. Lifetimes can come and go, and they would just only have scratched the surface with regards to the things they want to see or do. So we must give up. We must surrender and accept that life is just a journey. There is no sin and no end to desiring and experiencing more, more, MORE. There is only this moment of joy, the interim moment, and then next beautiful thing comes along. Yes. It is that hedonistic. The joy is in the journey.

What can I say. The best of botany distils to this: BE A PLANT LOVER, or rather find things to love, and plants will almost inevitably become one of them!

The latest edition of the plant carnival Berry Go Round has been posted at the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog. One of my posts from this past month has been included there! Be there to checkout the interesting botanical/agricultural topics from Jan 2010.

Baeckea imbricata (Heathmyrtle) at a nursery.

A year ago I came across a curious plant in a nursery, Baeckea imbricata(Heathmyrtle). It had somewhat small fleshy oval leaves with compact Leptospermum (Tea-tree)-like flowers tucked in the leaf axils.

The plant was labeled as a Tasmanian native, which intrigued me. Till that point I was rather certain that only two species of Baeckea occurred naturally in Tasmania.

Baeckea gunniana, the Alpine Heathmyrtle, is one of these. A neat and compact species of upland areas, B. gunniana is often found scrambling over rocks.

The other species is Baeckea leptocaulis, the Slender Heathmyrtle. This is an endemic shrub which grows in buttongrass sedgeland largely in the western part of the state.

There had previously been a third Baeckea, B. ramosisima, which was later transfered to a genus of it’s own called Euryomyrtus.

Baeckea gunniana (Alpine myrtleheath), Mt Field.

The Vascular Plant Census does not include B. imbricata, neither does the Key to the Tasmanian Plants.

Yet, it was highly unlikely that the plant in the nursery was mislabeled as the professionalism and knowledge of the nursery owner is not in doubt.

I didn’t get to ask the nursery owner about the issue then. Eventually, the building pressure of my curiosity left me no other recourse but to go to the source – a taxonomic work of Baeckea, of which I used A.R Bean’s 1998 Revision of Baeckea (Myrtaceae) in eastern Australia, Malesia and south-east Asia. Bean’s work on Baeckea is available online by following this link here.

The paper details that B. imbricata occurs in coastal heathy swamps and open eucalypt woodlands in New South Wales and Queensland.

Baeckea leptocaulis (Slender heathmyrtle), Mt Field.

As to it’s occurrence in Tasmania, it turns out that in the 1980′s a single individual of B. imbricata was found in bushland in eastern Tasmania by naturalists John and Marion Simmons. The plant was propagated by cuttings, and a specimen was taken from the cultivated plant and lodged at the Hobart Herbarium.

Whether the plant still exists in the bush is questionable. According to Marion Simmons (as cited by Bean), the original plant was destroyed by fire and no plants have yet been relocated in the area.

If the B. imbricata individual that the Simmons found was indeed the last one in Tasmania, it is gladdening to think that it remains tendered to in at least a few home gardens around Tasmania.

Perhaps this heathmyrtle is worth looking out whilst rambling around the bushlands of the east coast, but for now it seems, B. imbricata is no longer wild in Tasmania.

I am so excited. It is time to do a sales job. The long awaited Tree Flip is out.

Another masterpiece by Rob Wiltshire and Greg Jordan from the School of Plant Science  (UTAS), the TreeFlip follows on the heels of the success of the eucaflip (a similar, flippable field guide to the eucalypts of Tasmania). It has the same feel and lives up to (in my opinion excceeds) it’s predecessor in the layout and pictures.

Here’s what the TreeFlip offers for each of the 31 tree species featured:

- common and scientific names

- easy-to-interpret key characters for identification

- pictures of leaves

- pictures of flowers

- pictures of fruits

- bark characters

- distribution maps

- brief geographical/ecological information

Moreover, the TreeFlip is portable and definitely built for all-weather conditions. 

Perhaps we can look forward to soon seeing a ShrubFlip, HerbFlip, AlpineFlip, AcaciaFlip. But in the meantime, I’ll waste no time in getting a copy of the TreeFlip today.

Cudweed (Vellereophyton dealbatum), a little noticed but exquisite weed in Tasmania

Out of necessity, this post is going to have mild philosophical overtones as it points at an emotional journey I believe that most, if not all, naturalists take.

As a naturalist there can be a tendency to want to focus on what is being lost. The evidence of this is going to be everywhere. I have spent untold hours giving thought to and feeling rotten about plant extinction and the threats faced by may native plants: Climate change, irresponsible land owners, forestry, invasive weeds, etc, etc.

However, after much wallowing I realized the futility in focusing on the reality of all those facts.

The overriding desire of a naturalist is to appreciate nature. In appreciation one finds solace and beauty. One is in tune.

To give excessive thought to destruction or perceived threats is mentally and emotionally pathological to the innermost nature of a naturalist.

Roundleaf Wilsonia (Wilsonia rotundifolia), a threatened plant of salty places

The more passionate the naturalist, the keener his awareness, perhaps in scientifically quantifiable numbers, what biological treasures are out there. Likewise, the easier it is to start taking stock of the decline of a species.

Yet, in choosing to be INNUNDATED by facts of that which is unwanted we degrade our experience of enjoying beauty.

Make no mistake. I do not mean we should tolerate the destruction of the natural landscape. There certainly are individuals whose lot is to work for the preservation of nature. There is a fine line to draw between naturalists and conservationist.

What I do mean however, is that whether or not we take a proactive conservationist stance we can choose to visit the physical and emotional places that sing to us and not mourn (for long) and be bitter over those that have been lost.

Buttonleaf Everlastingbush (Ozothamnus scutellifolius), a Tasmanian endemic and nothing short of a botanical curiosity

Whatever the state of the natural resources, I want to continue to take beautiful pictures of plants, whether they be native or adventive. I want to appreciate their time and space. I want to learn from them, be in awe of the evolutionary journeys they have taken, and know them for all they have become.

Those that have been lost to extinction, I will acknowledge and appreciate that they once graced this beautiful island, in a more abundant and glorious state. I will not lament (not for long at least) their lost but I shall honor their memory.

And extinction is not always an absolute. Just recently, Hibbertia rufa, a plant previously thought extinct, was rediscovered. It will be events like these I will choose to give my attention to. I imagine that in the field, such delightful findings can only occur by grace and by an attention to beauty. And are not all plants beautiful?

It has been said before that ‘Truth is beauty and beauty is truth. That is all ye need to know’.

I cannot agree more.

On the 31st of March, my work at the Department of Primary Industries and Water (DPIW) as a project officer ended officially. In recapitulation, I am very thankful and grateful for the opportunity to meet and work with all the great people at the Threatened Species Section including Wendy, Richard, Mick, Matt, Jasmine, Adam, Micah, Phil and Louise.

I have learnt a lot from my time there and got to travel to some great spots in the state – something which will undoubtedly provide me much to blog about over the next couple of months.