Endemic flora M-P

Looking at the photographs To view the photographs, click on the species image to enlarge it, then use the side arrows to page through images of the flowers, buds, fruit, leaves, foliage and plant(s) in the wild etc.
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Based on Debenham C’s, The Language of Botany, A Publication of The Society for Growing Australian Plants, Chipping Norton NSW, c.1962.

Melaleuca pustulata

Botanical Name: Melaleuca pustulata (E)
Commonly Called: Warty paperbark
Botanical Family: Myrtaceae
Grows: A small to medium, erect, woody shrub typically growing 2 to 5m high by 1.5 to 2.5m wide.
Foliage: The bark is grey to fawn and the branchlets are smooth or with fine soft hairs, sometimes with short, stiff, silky, downlike hairs. The leaves are green, alternate or ternate, glabrous or lanuginous. They are sharp pointed at the stem end, rounded at the tip, 5 to 10mm long by 0.5 to 1.6mm wide and rounded, semi-elliptical in cross-section.
Flora: The ‘bottle-brush’ flowers are up to 18mm diameter cylindrical spikes of 15 to 30 glabrous or sparsely soft hairy floral cups. Each cup holds 5 to 9 yellow 4.2 to 8.5mm long stamens, the five 0.4 to 0.6mm long calyx lobes form part of the cup’s rim and the 1.9 to 2.0mm long petals are shed as the flowers open.
Flowering Season: Flowers are profuse in spring and continue into mid-summer.
Fruit: The floral cups harden into round ended cylindrical woody capsules 3 to 4mm long and are full of many fine seeds. The calyx lobes weather away or become partially embedded in the wall of the capsule.
How and where it grows: Common on the east coast around Oyster Bay, more often along creeks and rivers in moist well-drained locations, other moist well-drained places and in rocky outcrops among roadside vegetation.
Where found: Big Punchbowl, Breakfast Point and Coles Bay Road Freycinet Peninsula; Grange Road Swansea area; and Tasmanian Bushland Garden.
Other notes: A very good garden species preferring moist, free-draining soil and part shade but frost and drought tolerant. Ideal for hedges and screening, neater if it is regularly pruned.

Melaleuca virens

Botanical Name: Melaleuca virens (E)
Commonly Called: Prickly bottlebrush
Botanical Family: Myrtaceae
Grows: This small to medium, erect, neat shrub typically grows 0.5 to 2m high by 0.5 to 1m wide
Foliage: The grey/brown bark on the branches is smooth to scaly and slightly grooved. The branchlets are glabrous. The alternate leaves are dark green and crowded along the stems. They are sharp pointed at both ends, 14 to 37mm long by 1.8 by 5mm wide.
Flora: The ‘bottle-brush’ flowers are 30 to 50mm diameter cylindrical spikes of 20 to 80 glabrous floral cups. Each cup holds 19 to 36 green or yellow stamens, the 1 to 2.2mm long calyx lobes form part of the cup’s rim and the 2.7 to 4.9mm long petals are shed as the flowers open.
Flowering Season: Flowers appear from late spring through to the end of autumn.
Fruit: The floral cups harden into slightly flattened spherical woody capsules 4.5 to 6mm long and are full of many, many fine seeds. The calyx lobes are shed.
How and where it grows: Locally common in wet places from sea level to mountain areas.
Where found: Thumbs Creek, Prosser Valley near Orford; Snug Tiers near Margate; Bellettes Creek Tasman Peninsular; Maria Island; Freycinet Peninsula; Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair and Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Parks; the Tarkine; Tooms Lake; Franklins Road Kellevie; and MacKays Road Swansea area.
Other notes: This attractive neat garden species requires constantly wet, free-draining soil and part shade. The narrow, flat, pointed leaves and green/yellow stamens differentiate it from other Melaleuca species.

Milligania densiflora

Botanical Name: Milligania densiflora (E)
Commonly Called: Silky milligania
Botanical Family: Liliaceae
Grows: Clumps of wide leaves up to 50cm high with very attractive dense flower clusters on stems up to 75cm high, rhizomatous in wet soil or under water.
Foliage: The green leaves are narrow lanceolate, up to 55cm long by 5cm wide. While the young leaves are densely hairy with long simple hairs, they lose a lot of these on the broad surfaces leaving them mainly along the midrib and the edges.
Flora: Clusters of mainly white flowers, sometimes with a red tinged throat and tube and very rarely pink all over, atop a 40 to 75cm long stem which is densely covered with soft, silky, simple or branched hairs. Similarly, the tube and the midribs of the outside of the lobes are also densely silky-hairy.
Flowering Season: Flowers usually seen in late spring and throughout summer.
Fruit: The fruit is a follicle.
How and where it grows: Widespread on moist alpine slopes and rocky banks, boggy heaths and shallow ponds, predominantly in the central, western and south western areas.
Where found: Hartz Mountain, Lakes Osborne and Esperance Tracks Hartz National Park; Cradle Mountain east of the mountain; Lyell Highway near Frenchmans Cap Lookout and many other similar places.
Other notes: The most common of the Milligania species, best grown in pots with saucers under but requiring a cold period to initiate flowering.

Nothofagus gunnii

Botanical Name: Nothofagus gunnii (E)
Commonly Called: Deciduous beech or Fagus
Botanical Family: Nothofagaceae
Grows: This beautiful deciduous shrub or small tree grows 0.2 to 4m high by 1 to 3m wide with numerous wiry tangled branches and can form an almost impenetrable scrub where many bushes grow together, hence an old common name ‘Tanglefoot’.
Foliage: The short stalked leaves are oval to circular, 10 to 20mm long, bright green until autumn when they colour to golden brown, and if cold enough before they fall, to pink or red. The edges of the leaves are regularly indented. The upper surface is more or less folded with indented feather-like veins radiating from the deeper central vein while the lower surface has prominent veins which grow long flattened hairs.
Flora: This is a monoecious species. The male flowers grow 1 to 3 together in the leaf axils, often on short side shoots, with downward curved stems surrounded by yellow/brown bracts. The 3 to 6 sepals within are lobed and unequally shaped. There are usually 6 to 12 orange stamens.
The female flowers grow 3 together, above the male flowers in the axils of the upper leaves, with the stem-less carpels closely surrounded by a whorl of shiny red and yellow bracts which, when fruiting occurs, harden and become shiny bright red and woody about 8mm long.
Flowering Season: The flowers appear during summer.
Fruit: When the woody fruit ripen, hardened bracts separate into 4 valves each with 4 to 6 backward curved scales. The nuts within are broadly 3-winged, the central one flat, the other 2 with membranes.
How and where it grows: Locally common on central and western mountains from 1,000 to 1,400m altitude. Plant size is governed by its location, smaller at higher altitudes.
Where found: Around Lake Fenton and along the Tarn Shelf in Mount Field National Park (NP); Weindorfers Forest, around Crater Lake, the eastern side of Cradle Mountain, eastern slope of Mount Gel, and north of Lake Selene in the Labyrinth of Du Cane Range in Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair NP; eastern face of Precipitous Bluff; and other subalpine places.
Other notes: Tasmania’s only indigenous deciduous shrub/tree. Propagation by fresh stratified seed can be successful but seedling growth is very slow. The contorted branches with bright green foliage which changes to yellow and reddish autumn colours make for a beautiful cool/cold garden plant.

Odixia achlaena

Botanical Name: Odixia achlaena (E)
Commonly Called: Golden everlastingbush
Botanical Family: Asteraceae
Grows: An open, much branched, woody shrub which grows 1 to 1.5m high by 0.5 to 1m wide.
Foliage: The bright green leaves are stemless, round tipped and narrow linear up to 3cm long by about 1mm wide. The edges are strongly rolled under, almost hiding the tiny tomentose hairs. With up turned tips, they radiate outwards alternately, spiralling up the yellow/green new stems. On older stems, the darker leaves fold back down the dull green stems. New stems grow in a ring under the persistent old terminal flower clusters.
Flora: The flower heads consist of a large number of clusters of 10 to 20 about 5mm long florets on 0 to 3mm stems joined to variable length cluster stems so that the tops of the large number of florets are nearly flat. The multiple rows of thin, membranous bracts in the cylindrical flowers are pale greenish-yellow, woolly hairy and sticky at their base. Each flower has up to 5 bisexual florets with about 3mm long yellowish white petals. The anthers have tails, the styles are bulbous at their base and the stigma is round topped with minute bumps.
Flowering Season: The flowers are seen during spring and early summer. The old flower heads persist through to winter.
Fruit: This plant’s fruit are small achenes. They remain closed until stimulated.
How and where it grows: This is a rare species found in an area 6km wide by 11km long on a NNE to SSW axis in the Kellevie – Rheban – Wielangta – Copping area along the east coast inland hills.
Where found: Kellevie Road, Franklins Road along Hospital Creek, Isles Tier and the western slope of Gordons Sugarloaf and nearby south western gully, Kellevie; Sandspit River Reserve, Prosser Sugarloaf, Jacobs Hill Track, Wielangta Road and many other locations in the Wielangta Forest Reserve area; Splitters Creek Area, Rheban; north of Copping; and other locations in the defined area.
Other notes: This is an interesting, open, attractive long flowering bush best grown in moist, well drained soil in part/full sun with wind protection due to brittle side branches. Strikes easily from mature new stems. Prune for shape and use prunings for cut flowers.

Olearia archeri

Botanical Name: Olearia archeri (E)
Commonly Called: Lanceleaf daisybush
Botanical Family: Asteraceae
Grows: This medium sized shrub grows 1 to 2m high by 1 to 2m wide. It is a rhizomatous species and this enables plants to recover rapidly after bushfires or other trauma.
Foliage: The leaves are narrowly lanceolate, 1.2 to 10cm long by 3 to 15mm wide on short stubby stalks. They are dull green and leathery with a shallow intricate network of veins on the upper surface. The lower surface is pale yellowish brown and densely hairy.
Flora: This species’ beautiful flower heads are arranged in many groups of three on the ends of branchlets, each group is on a stalk up to 8cm long. The daisy-like flower heads are ideal examples of composite flowers of the Asteraceae family. The outer rings have 7 to 9 white ray florets, these petal-like flower parts are 8 to 11mm long and enclose the upright yellow pollen bearing stamens. They surround 19 to 27 yellow tubular disc florets with five outward folding petal like flower parts around their ovaries. They open one or more at a time as the flower matures. White, narrow, petal like strap phyllaries grow up and waft around the disc florets.
Flowering Season: The flowers may appear from early spring to early summer but not every year on each bush.
Fruit: The fruit is a brown achene and it has a tuft of many bristles.
How and where it grows: This is a rare species found in the east and south east above 120m on rocky hillsides in dry sclerophyll areas.
Where found: Douglas Apsley and Maria Island National Parks; Three Thumbs Reserve, Kellevie and Wielangta Forest Reserves all in small swathes; along old logging roads south of High Yellow Bluff and just north of the fire tower along the MacGregor Peak Track in Forestier Peninsula, both in large rhizomatous swathes.
Other notes: Propagation from tip cuttings is relatively reliable from fresh material and growth is slow with multiple stems forming when the plant is young. Free draining moist soil is required. This species should be more widely grown in home gardens.

Orites acicularis

Botanical Name: Orites acicularis (E)
Commonly Called: Yellow orites
Botanical Family: Proteaceae
Grows: A dense prickly bush growing 1 to 1.5m high by 0.5 to 1m wide with conspicuous yellow/green foliage.
Foliage: The young branches are pubescent. Older branches sometimes have flaky scales. The yellow/green, more or less glossy leaves are 10 to 35mm long by 1 to 2mm diameter with a groove along their top surfaces. They narrow to short stems at the branches and taper to sharp points at their tips.
Flora: The clusters of 4 to 12 flowers are terminal or in the outer leaf axils. The stems of the clusters are about 2cm long and have rusty-brown hairs but the flowers have no stems. The sepals and petals, 3 to 5mm long, are usually creamy-white, rarely tinged pink, joined only close to their stem end and curve out and backwards at their tips. The stamens extend above the petals, the linear upright nectaries are about 0.3mm long, and the ovaries are silky pubescent.
Flowering Season: Flowers first appear in late spring and continue through to late summer.
Fruit: The fruit is an upright, oblong follicle 1 to 1.5cm long with an oblique beak and glabrous. It partially opens to immediately release the oblong seed which is surrounded by a small symmetrical wing. The fruit appear from mid summer through to mid autumn.
How and where it grows: Widespread in mountain shrubberies and heaths or at the edges of boulder-fields and in herb-fields on most dolerite plateaux and mountains of the west, on the Central Plateau and the north-east highlands from about 800 to 1500m altitude.
Where found: It may be seen on Thark Ridge and other high altitude places in kunanyi/Wellington Park; Newdegate Pass Mount Field; along Hartz Mountain Track; on a plateau on Mount Barrow; along the Ouse River at 840m; on the eastern slope of Pelion West, Milligans Peak near Lake King William and many other places in Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park; and, at the end of the ski village road on Ben Lomond.
Other notes: This species is reported to be hard to establish at low altitudes, so it is rarely grown. Propagation may be successful from fresh seed or tip cuttings.

Orites diversifolius

Botanical Name: Orites diversifolius (E)
Commonly Called: Variable orites
Botanical Family: Proteaceae
Grows: This variable erect shrub grows 1 to 3m high by 1 to 1.5m wide. In rainforest it grows as an open sparsely branched plant, while in open locations it may become dense and spreading.
Foliage: The young branches are rusty velvety-tomentose which shed as the branches age to greyish colour with flakey scales. The leaves, with stems 2 to 3mm long, grow from 2 to 10cm long by 0.5 to 1.5cm wide. Their shape is also very variable from narrow elliptical to oblong with a rounded base and tapering to a point at the tip which is sometimes toothed. The edges may be linear or curved under and sometimes coarsely toothed until near the tip. The upper surface is shiny dark green while the underside is paler.
Flora: The flowers grow on many axillary spikes near the tips of branches. Each 2 to 5cm long spike has 6 to 20 and occasionally up to 30 flowers along the rusty-tomentose stem. Each stemless flower has 3 to 4mm long bracts, smooth except for a few hairs at the tip. The creamy white sepals and petals are separate from the base, smooth, broad and curve outward and back to touch the lower part. The upright stamens extend beyond the tops of the curved petals, the ovoid nectaries are about 3mm long and the ovary is villous.
Flowering Season: Flowers appear in late winter and continue through late spring and occasionally during the summer.
Fruit: The fruit is an upright ovoid follicle 1 to 1.5cm long with a persistent sharp point and no hairs. It opens fully to immediately release the oval shaped seed which has a curved terminal wing. The fruit appear from early summer through to late autumn.
How and where it grows: It is widespread and frequent in wet lower mountainous forests and shrubberies in the south-west, Central Plateau, Wellington Range and southern highlands. It is also occasionally found in mountainous shrubby forests and heaths.
Where found: Coolangatta Road, Mount Mangana, South Bruny Island; Springs area and Mount Connection Track, kunanyi/Wellington Park; Platform Peak and Mount Dromedary, Mount Dromedary Conservation Area; Road to Hartz Mountain, Hartz National Park (NP); Below Lake Fenton and above Lake Dobson in Mt Field NP; Near Mount Arrowsmith, Philps Creek on the Frenchmans Cap Track and, Franklin River at Lyell Highway Bridge, Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers NP; South Coast Track above Lousy Bay, South West NP.
Other notes: This floriferous species is fast growing in moist cool locations but slow on dry sites. Its leaf forms and growth habit distinguish it from the other Orites species. It may be propagated from seed or cuttings.

Orites revolutus

Botanical Name: Orites revolutus (E)
Commonly Called: Revolute orites
Botanical Family: Proteaceae
Grows: This multi-branched shrub grows from prostrate in strong wind exposed places to a tall compact bush up to 2m high by 0.5 to 2m wide.
Foliage: The young branches are sparsely covered with brownish hairs. The crowded leaves with only a short stem or none, grow from 1 to 2 and sometimes up to 3cm long by 1.5 to 3.5cm wide. They are thick, tough, straight to slightly elliptical, and tightly rolled under along the edges with a blunt or short flexible tip. The upper surface is smooth, shiny and dark green while the rarely visible under side is densely brown tomentose.
Flora: The flowers grow on the tips or in axillary spikes near the tips of branches. Each spike has 10 to 20 and occasionally up to 30 cream to white 3 to 5cm long flowers with 1 to 3.5cm long stems which are densely rusty-brown pubescent. The bracts, about 2cm long are similarly pubescent. The separate smooth sepals and petals spread out and some times curve down at their tips; the upright stamens extend beyond these tips. The ovary is densely rusty-brown, silky-pubescent.
Flowering Season: Flowers may be seen from late Spring through Summer and the fruit appears during Autumn.
Fruit: The fruit are slanting elliptical follicles 1 to 2.5cm long with slanting points and are densely velvety-tomentose. These hairs shed with age. They open partially to release the oval shaped seed which has a large terminal wing.
How and where it grows: Widespread in subalpine shrubberies and heathland from 700-1,100m.
Where found: Mt Connection, Thark Ridge, Big Bend, South Wellington and many other tracks in kunanyi/Wellington Park; Hartz Mountain and other tracks in Hartz National Park (NP); Sub-alpine Walk and Wombat Moor Mount Field NP; Ronny Creek Boardwalk, Horse, Overland and many other tracks in Cradle Mountain Lake St Claire NP; and Ben Lomond NP.
Other notes: The fruit remaining on the plants and the tightly rolled under leaf edges help to identify this species. Olearia ledifolia also have tightly rolled under leaves but their daisy flowers distinguish them. Propagation from cuttings may be slow and good seed is hard to find due to weevils. This species requires moist well-drained soil and full sun.

Ozothamnus scutellifolius

Botanical Name: Ozothamnus scutellifolius (E)
Commonly Called: Button-leaf everlastingbush
Botanical Family: Asteraceae
Grows: This woody, much branched shrub grows from 0.5 to 1.5m high by 0.5 to 1.5m wide.
Foliage: The thin branches are densely white tomentose. The circular, flattened dome-shaped, green leaves 0.4 to 1.5mm diameter have stems about the same length as the thickness of the leaves. They are usually smooth but some have scattered wooly hairs. The edges of the leaves are rolled under and they are almost tomentose beneath.
Flora: The flower clusters, terminal on the branches and side branchlets have 3 to 5 cylindrical, 3 to 4mm long, flower heads each with 14 to 20 creamy white florets. The flower heads’ multiple layer bracts are pale brown, dry and thin. The innermost bracts are clear or white tipped, upright and very slightly spreading.
Flowering Season: Flowers appear during spring.
Fruit: The fruit of this species are typical of the Asteraceae species, they are achenes with minute rounded bumps and a tuft of hooked bristles which are slightly thicker at their tips.
How and where it grows: This aromatic small shrub is found on dry hillsides in the south eastern area of the state.
Where found: Near Bicheno; on Bruny, Maria and Schouten Islands; Lake Leake and Lake Leake roadside area; wide spread up the south western side of the Derwent Valley, on the dry hills west of the Pelverata Valley; in the Mount Direction Conservation Area and the Meehan Range Reserve.
Other notes: Best propagated from semi-hardwood cuttings then grown in well-drained moist soil in full sun. Withstands light frosts and long dry periods. The small bright green button leaves on hairy stems distinguish this aromatic shrub.

Pentachondra involucrata

Botanical Name: Pentachondra involucrata (E)
Commonly Called: Forest frillyheath
Botanical Family: Ericaceae: Subfamily 4 Epacridoideae Tribe 6 Stypheliae
Grows: While usually fairly prostrate, this species may grow from 10 to 100cm high by 15 to 40cm wide.
Foliage: The branchlets of this upright, slightly dense shrub are pubescent. The more or less elliptical, sometimes pubescent, dark green, almost stem clasping leaves have prominent veins along both sides. They are fringed with fine soft hairs, grow 8 to 20mm long and gently taper to a point on their tips.
Flora: The white flowers grow single or 2 or 3 grouped together in the leaf axils near the tips of short branches. Several small bracts, half the length of the sepals surround the flower. The edges of the 2 to 3mm long ovate sepals are fringed with fine soft hairs. The petals are fused into a tube at their base to form a corolla the same length as the sepals. The 5 lobes are much longer and bend outwards and down. They are densely bearded. The anthers extend above the lobes. The ovary and the base of the style are also pubescent.
Flowering Season: The eye-catching delicate flowers are seen throughout autumn.
Fruit: The fruit is a tiny drupe which is hidden in the persistent base of the sepals.
How and where it grows: Sea cliffs, wet sclerophyll forests and on mountains to about 1,200m in the south and south east of the State.
Where found: Pinnacle Road, Thark Ridge and Zig Zag Tracks and many other places in kunanyi/Wellington Park; Pelverata Falls, Snug Tiers Nature Recreation Area; Tasmans Arch and Devils Kitchen, Tasman National Park
Other notes: A difficult species to maintain in the home garden, it needs well-drained moist, acidic soil with part sun. It is also difficult to propagate due to the hairy foliage; tip cuttings after flowering can be successful. The soft spreading hairs on the leaves and the petals distinguish this species.

Persoonia gunnii

Botanical Name: Persoonia gunnii (E)
Commonly Called: Mountain geebung
Botanical Family: Proteaceae
Grows: This stoutly branched, spreading shrub with simple flowers and large burgundy fruit grows from 0.2 to 3m high by 1.5 to 3m wide.
Foliage: The young branches are sparsely to densely silky-pubescent. Leaf scars disappear with age. The narrow to broadly oval or spatulate leaves are often crowded and grow 2 to 4cm long by 3 to 10mm wide. The bottom of the leaf narrows into a short stem and many leaves are vertical with a curved stem down to the branchlet. Leaf shape is very variable, thin, flat or convex and sometimes with the edges incurved and the tip blunt. The under side of the young leaves have a few stiff hairs or bristles or none.
Flora: The flowers, with 2.5 to 5mm long, thick, hairy stems, are single or several well apart in a small cluster. They have a rather ‘heavy’ sickly-sweet aroma. The creamy-yellow/yellow petals are fused at the base into a tube for about half their 8 to 15mm length. The upper sections of the four smooth petals fold out and down. They have narrow, thin, undulating wings along their edges.
Flowering Season: Flowers appear through summer and the fruit forms through autumn.
Fruit: The ovoid drupe, 6 to 10mm long and wide, matures to purplish-black often with a glaucous bloom. It may remain on the plant for many months.
How and where it grows: Scattered in well-drained, moist submontane shrubbery on slopes of central, south-west and western mountains, and similar locations in the north-east; this species occurs from about 450 to 1,200m.
Where found: Ben Lomond plateau, Ben lomond NP; Dove Lake, Lake Will and the Overland Tracks and many other places in Cradle Mountain Lake St Claire NP; Hartz Track, Hartz Mountain NP; Lake Webster, Platypus Tarn and Tarn Shelf Tracks and many other places in Mount Field NP; Mount Read.
Other notes: This aromatic plant’s distinguishing features are flowers and, at the same time, last year’s fruit; also the upward curving leaves. It requires moist soil with excellent drainage in full sun. Cuttings are slow to form roots.

Phebalium daviesii

Botanical Name: Phebalium daviesii (E)
Commonly Called: Davies waxflower
Botanical Family: Rutaceae
Grows: 1-1.5m H x 1-2m W
Foliage: The young branches are brown with star-like clusters of hairs interconnected to form scales. The leaves are dark green on the top surface and silver underneath, 2 to 3 cm long and slightly tapering from the tip to stem. The deep central vein and the tightly rolled edges give the impression of two pipes fused together rounded at the tips.
Flora: The terminal flowers grow in clusters of 6 to 8 on short stout stems covered with orange-rusty scales. The short calyx with 5 obscure lobes surrounds the 5, occasionally 4, oblongish petals which taper to their round tips. The slender stamen filaments with scattered glands are twice as long as the petals and bend outwards. The outsides of the flowers are mottled white with orange-rusty scales and the insides are white with cream tips.
Fruit: The fruit is a capsule.
Flowering Season: The flowers appear through spring and summer.
How and where it grows: Unfortunately this rare species is not naturally found in any reserve. The whole indigenous population is on a private property on the east coast near St. Helens, and may be threatened by changes in land use.
Where found: Plants may be seen in the Heritage Forest: Native Plants Garden, Mowbray; the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens Tasmanian Species section, Hobart; Tasmanian Bushland Gardens, near Buckland; and the Tasmanian Arboretum, Eugenana.
Other notes: Fortunately this rare species propagates easily from cuttings and many members of the Australian Plants Society Tasmania Inc. are growing it in their home gardens. It is also available from several nurseries which sell Tasmanian species. It prefers part shade and well-drained soil. It is a nicely shaped plant and very attractive when in full flower.

Phyllocladus aspleniifolius

Botanical Name: Phyllocladus aspleniifolius (E)
Commonly Called: Celerytop pine
Botanical Family: Podocarpaceae
Grows: This tall, conical conifer grows from 6 to 30m high by 2 to 4m wide. At highest altitudes it may be stunted.
Foliage: The branches grow horizontally from the vertical trunk. Seedling leaves are fine and needle like. Mature leaves reduce to scales from which cladodes grow as ‘leaves’. These thick, green, diamond shaped cladodes grow 3 to 8cm long. They sometimes have a large notch on each side edge and resemble celery leaves, hence the common name.
Flora: This species produces male and female cones either on separate trees or on the same tree. The cylindrical male cones, 3 to 5mm long and 2 or 3 together, grow on the ends of side branches. The female cones, in clusters of 3 or 4 on short stalks grow in the axils or on the edges of the cladodes.
Fruit: The female cones mature to a fleshy, pink to red, rounded top fruit which splits as the club shaped, white aril enlarges with the hard black seed on top.
Flowering Season: The male and female cones appear in summer.
How and where it grows: Widespread and common in wet sclerophyll and rainforest, from sea level to 1,000m. Predominately in the west and south-west, with smaller populations in the north and east.
Where found: Many locations in the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair, Hartz Mountains, Mount Field, South West and Wild Rivers National Parks (NP); several locations in the Douglas Apsley and Tasman NPs.
Other notes: This special conifer with its distinctive foliage is slow growing and needs cool, moist, acidic soil. It is a good container plant but requires daily moisture. Propagation is best from fresh seed or semi-hardwood cuttings. The fine roots have nitrogen fixing nodules which require the symbiotic relationship with mycorrhiza in the propagating mix to improve the strike rate. As full grown trees (over 100 years old), they have beautiful wood for furniture and wood turning. In the past the timber has been used for zinc refinery tank tops and vessels. Trees are easily recognised by their conical shape, cladodes as ‘leaves’ and the distinctive external fruit.

Pimelea nivea

Botanical Name: Pimelea nivea (E)
Commonly Called: Bushmans bootlace
Botanical Family: Thymelaeaceae
Grows: An open spreading bush which grows from 1 to 2m high by 0.5 to 2m wide.
Foliage: All the branches, branchlets and underside of the leaves are white due to the tomentose hairs. Some are silky but not silvery-silky as they are on Pimelea sericea. The leaves are broadly elliptical to nearly circular or sometimes narrow elliptical to wider toward their tips. They grow as opposites with small angular stems from the underside and may be 7 to 15mm long. They are thickish, flat and have slightly rolled edges. The upper surface is glabrous and shiny dark green.
Flora: The cluster of upright terminal flowers are surrounded by a ring of bracts similar to or slightly larger than the leaves. The flowers are bisexual with a floral tube 8 to 10mm long or female only with a shorter tube. The tubes and the lobes are white, cream or rosy-pink and their bases are surrounded by about 3mm long hairs. The stamens are as long as the lobes. As the fruit mature the floral tubes split across the tops of the ovaries and fall away, then the anthers turn back to back when the fruit splits upon maturity.
Flowering Season: Flowers may be seen throughout spring.
Fruit: The fruit are a cluster of dry nuts, each with a coating of fine soft hairs near the tips.
How and where it grows: This easily recognised plant is widespread on rocky outcrops to 1,000m as an understorey plant. It may be found in many areas on the eastern and western tiers; on Flinders, Clarke, Maria and Bruny Islands; down the east coast including Flash Tiers and Orford Thumbs; Forestier and Tasman Peninsula; Snug Tiers; kunanyi/Wellington Park; Chimney Pot Hill in Waterworks Reserve; and many other locations.
Other notes: In the home garden it requires moist, well-drained, humus rich soil in part-shade to full sun and should be pruned after flowering. Propagation from cuttings can be very slow and seed may be hard to procure. The bark tears off in long strips and is very strong, hence the common name ‘Bushman’s bootlace’. The densely hairy underside of the leaves and their formation are distinguishing features.

Pimelea sericea

Botanical Name: Pimelea sericea (E)
Commonly Called: Mountain riceflower
Botanical Family: Thymelaeaceae
Grows: A much branched, roundish shrub which grows from 20 to 80cm high by 50 to 100cm wide.
Foliage: All branches, branchlets and the underside of the leaves are silky hairy. The upper leaf surface is glaucous and green. They are usually crowded, more or less upward pointing, mostly opposite, broadly elliptical and 7 to 12mm long with angled stems.
Flora: The cluster of upright terminal flowers are surrounded by a ring of bracts similar to or slightly broader than the leaves. The flowers are bisexual with a floral tube 8 to 10mm long or female only with a shorter tube. The tubes and the lobes are white or rosy-pink and their bases are surrounded by short hairs. The erect stamens are shorter than the lobes. As the fruit mature the floral tubes split across the tops of the ovaries and fall away.
Flowering Season: The flowers are seen through spring and summer.
Fruit: The fruit is a dry nut about 3.5mm long, with a coating of long hairs near the tip.
How and where it grows: In alpine heathlands and shrubbery from 1000 to 1200m.
Where found: South Wellington and Thark Ridge Tracks, Pinnacle Road and other sub-alpine places in kunanyi/Wellington Park; Ski field area Mount Field East, and Mount Field West, Mount Field National Park (NP); western face Precipitous Bluff, South West NP; Hartz Mountain Track, Hartz Mountains NP; Mount Gell and Wylds Craig Franklin and Gordon Wild Rivers NP; below and on the peak of Eldon Bluff, Cradle Mountain Lake St Claire NP; Mount Albert; Mount Barrow; Ossians Throne, Ben Lomond NP; other alpine areas throughout Tasmania.
Other notes: This species is difficult to maintain in home gardens, especially in low altitudes. It requires well-drained soils in full sun and is best propagated from cuttings in a mist propagator with bottom heat and the use of rooting hormone. It is easily recognised in high altitudes due to the silky compact foliage and terminal flower clusters.

Pomaderris pilifera subsp. talpicutica

Botanical Name: Pomaderris pilifera subsp. talpicutica (E)
Commonly Called: Moleskin dogwood
Botanical Family: Rhamnaceae
Grows: This species grows as a small open and loosely spreading shrub up to about 1.52m high from a single trunk.
Foliage: The alternate leaves have short stems, are broadly oblong and rarely oblong to ovate, 10 to 30mm long by 8 to 15mm wide with central part usually the widest. The edges are slightly rolled under, the stem ends are roundish and the tips rounded, sometimes with a shallow notch. The upper side is dull grey with a velvety appearance due to short, dense, stiff, tiny long stellate hairs. The underside of the leaves are pale and dull white with a velvety appearance and covered with short, densely matted hairs and prominent veins which have a few widely spaced long simple white or rusty hairs and a few others near the stem. The upper surface has a prominent central vein and faint lateral veins. The mid veins of the leaves very often end in the shallow notch at the tip of the leaf with a short blunt mucro.
Flora: The flowers form dense round clusters which are initially surrounded by broad, brown bracts which fall away as the flowers develop. The sepals, 1.5 to 3mm, broadly triangular are erect at first then strongly recurved, the outer surfaces with short, dense stellate hairs and scattered longer simple hairs. The petals are 1.5 to 2mm long, erect and clawed. The upper portion slightly hooded and at first enclosing the stamens, then spreading widely and more or less flat, often deciduous at or immediately after flowering. The stamens are 2 to 3mm long, while the styles are slightly shorter, 1.5 to 2mm long. The cup and the top of the ovary are covered with short dense stellate hairs and well dispersed long simple hairs.
Flowering Season: The flowers appear in spring.
Fruit: No description is available for the fruit of this subspecies. However, the fruit of Pomaderris pilifera subsp. pilifera is a 3-celled capsule.
How and where it grows: Dry hillside on the east of Derwent River and NW of St Marys. It has been classified as rare and endangered.
Where found: There is a very small population of 250 plants on the ridge south of Tommys Bight in East Risdon State Reserve and a small occurrence west of Avenue River Regional Reserve on the summit of the Pimple off Pimple Road in Evercreech Forestry Reserve.
Other notes: Pomaderris pilifera subsp. talpicutica differs from P. pilifera subsp. pilifera in that the upper leaf surface is covered with very fine hairs giving the surface a grey velvety appearance hence the resemblance that gives the species the common name ‘Moleskin dogwood’. P. pilifera subsp. pilifera is wide spread in eastern and northern Tasmania and Victoria. Both species may be propagated from new tip cuttings after flowering has finished but success may be low. Both also grow well in free-draining, moist soil in part to full sun.

Prionotes cerinthoides

Botanical Name: Prionotes cerinthoides (E)
Commonly Called: Climbing heath
Botanical Family: Epacridaceae
Grows: This beautiful plant climbs or scrambles over large areas across the ground and other plants, often as an epiphyte, up to 10m high by 0.5 to 3m or more wide.
Foliage: The branchlets are pubescent. The flat, glabrous leaves have short stems, and grow from 6 to 14mm long by 2 to 4mm wide. Their upper sides are shiny green with a central vein and sometimes a network of faint minor veins. The undersides are patchy dull green and the edges of the leaves are thickened and dentate with a glandular hair at the tip of the teeth.
Flora: The solitary red flowers, usually pendulous, grow in the leaf axils near the branchlet ends on long thin stems which have very small, sharp pointed, fine soft hairy fringed bracts near the branchlet. Ovate sepals about 4mm long are similarly sharp pointed and fine soft hairy fringed. The petals are fused into a 15 to 25mm long cylindrical tube which is constricted at its throat. The small petal lobes are blunt and fold back outwards. The stamens are shorter than the twin cavity anthers which are fused onto thin stamens. The 5 cavity ovary is hirsute and the slender style is inserted in a deep depression at the top of the ovary.
Flowering Season: The beautiful flowers are seen throughout autumn and are present on the plants for a long period.
Fruit: The fruit is a capsule.
How and where it grows: This species is widespread in wet forests of the west and south up to sub-alpine altitudes of about 1000m.
Where found: Cradle Mountain Lake St Claire, Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers, Hartz Mountains, Mount Field, South West National Parks and other similar areas.
Other notes: This species is well worth trying to grow in a cool semi-shade location, with moist soil, possibly in a piece of hollowed out soft treefern trunk or in a container. It may be propagated from tip cuttings which may be slow to strike; use rooting hormone gel.

Botanical index

Common index