NSW Programme 2003

Melbourne Cup WeekendFriday October 31 - Tuesday November 4CONTACT : Bruce Wallace

Phone: 0401 365 826Email: bwallac4@bigpond.net.au

MEETING PLACE: 10.00am at McDonalds, Sth Nowra

Field trip south to view G. linearifolia (Dolphin Point,Ulladulla & Bendalong-Manyana), G. arenaria andG. scabrifolia (near Nowra), G. buxifolia (PigeonHouse), G. epicroca, G. victoriae ssp. nivalis(Brown Mountain), G. johnsonii and many otherexciting localities and plant populations.See page 2 for more details

Saturday 21 FebruaryTIME: 9.30am

VENUE: Home of Brian and Carol Roach, 47Eucalyptus Drive, Westleigh 4284 9216

Brian will give a short talk on some of his locallydeveloped Tips and Tricks in the garden and nursery.He has recently revamped his garden and plantedplenty of grevilleas. This garden was recentlyvisited by the Friends of the Botanic Gardens.Some plants for sale as well. There may be anotherlocal garden to vis it as well.

Wednesday 17 March

TIME: 9.30am

VENUE: Grevillea Park, Bulli

SUBJECT: Keying Grevilleas

SPEAKER :Peter Olde

Using some of the plants in the park, we willcontinue developing our identification skills.

Preparations for the Autumn Plant Sale.

April 17 - 18Autumn Plant Sale

October 2003

Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants

Ref No. ISSN 0725-8755

\Inside this issue:l Grevilleas of South East Queenslamdl Protecting Grevillea masoniil Two New Speciesl A new garden in Toowoomba

and more....

GSG Queensland Chapter

Meetings for 2003. Morning Tea 9.30 am.Meetings commence at 10 am.For more information, contact Merv. Hodgeon (07) 5546 3322

QLD Programme 2003Sunday October 26VENUE: Home of Denis Cox & Jan Glazebrook,

87 Daintree Drive, Logan Village 4207Phone: (07) 5546 8590

SUBJECT: Grevilleas P to R inclusive.

Sunday November 30VENUE: Home of Norm & Win McCarthy,

21 Lindberg Street., Toowoomba 4350Phone: (07) 4634 2894

SUBJECT: Grevilleas S to Z inclusive.

Sunday February 29 2004VENUE: Home of Bernard & Rona Wilson,

120 Avalon Road, Sheldon 4257Phone: (07) 3206 3399

SUBJECT: To be decided.

GSG Victoria Chapter

Leader: Neil MarriottPhone: (03) 5356 2404Email: neilm@netconnect.com.au

Convener: Max McDowallPhone: (03) 9850 3411Email: maxamcd@melbpc.org.au

VIC Programme 2003

Melbourne Cup WeekendFriday October 31 - Tuesday November 4Combined Field Trip to South East NSW.(see NSW chapter)

This newsletter was produced with the assistanceof the Queensland Region.

Bruce Wallace, Ingleburn, NSW

Progress Report on planning for theG.S.G. Field Trip to the South Coast.

The trip will be going over 4 days maybe 5 fromFriday 31st October to Monday 3rd or Tuesday4th November. Having a 4WD is an advantagebut not essential. We will be camping or stayingin towns in motels or caravan parks. Somepeople will be camping where as others willprefer to stay in motels etc., this is OK but wewill have to meet somewhere convenient to thetrip each morning, so be prepared for earlystarts. You can leave and join the trip wheneveryou like.

The trip starts at McDonalds carpark SouthNowra at 10am which is on the Princes Highway.

The first day we should be seeing Grevilleaslinearifolia, scabrifolia, arenaria, buxifolia, andmacleayana. In areas around Nowra andUlladulla and between these towns.

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 2

The second day we will be heading furthersouth for Grevilleas arenaria, rhyolitica, epicrocaand maybe victoriae . We will be in the areas ofLarry's Mountain, Araluen Road onto Moruyaand Deua National Park and maybe Big Badja.

The third and fourth days we will be seeingGrevilleas irrasa, johnsonii, parvula and victoriae.in the Brogo, Cobargo and Bega areas. We willbe led by Jackie Miles on these 2 days. If timepermits we will be going onto the SnowyMountains and maybe Victoria.

As has been the case on most of our previousfield trips the trip is very "fluid" in nature andoften changes are made daily to the itineraryand things are added or deleted as we godepending on circumstances. The planning ofthe trip has not been finalised as yet and we willbe having a trip meeting about one week beforethe trip starts to finalise things.

Hope to see a good number on the field trip.You can contact me on 0401 365 826.

Vale: Pam ShiellsThe members of the Grevillea Study Groupwish to pass their condolences to David at thesudden passing of his wife Pam at work onFriday Oct 5. Many members from NSW willhave renewed their acquaintance with Pam atthe Autumn Plant Sale where her gentle, quietnature was much in evidence. Pam shared adeep love of the Australian flora with David andher unexpected and untimely death hasshocked all who knew her.

Bob O'Neill from Katandra Gardens, WandinVic. Reports that last year they had 799mm ofrain instead of the average 950mm per year.The most difficult part was an extended drysummer which hit his plants somewhat butmainly older plants. Of the 1,500 plants put outover the past 18 months only a few had died ofdry conditions.

In August Bob had 110mm of good rain that fellsteadily in extended rain periods or showers. Atthe end there was quite a bit of run off for thedams, the best for a couple of years. Probablythe drier conditions actually suited many plantsoriginating from drier locations.

Ron Ellis from Mt Waverley ,Vic. is involvedwith scouting. He is the environment officer forClifford Park, a Scout Activity Centre at WongaPark, where they are planning on planting over10,000 plants. So far 3,000 have been plantedin 5 years. Ron has Scouts and Venturers comeup to the park to plant out and they also takeseed home and the plants are eventuallybrought back to the park for planting when theyare 30cm high. Ron recently bought Peter andNeil's Grevillea Books and they have been agreat help.

Grevilleas of Southeast Queensland

The beautiful grevilleas of Western Australia,the small colourful grevilleas of Victoria and thesandstone Grevilleas of New South Wales are wellknown and often written about, but Queenslandcan boast the biggest and showiest Grevilleasof them all.

This is an article about the Grevilleas of S. E.Queensland. Let's start with the biggest - Grevillearobusta. It can grow to 40 m on the rich volcanicsoils on the slopes of the mountains in theBorder Ranges and along creek lines. Thecommon name "Silky Oak" refers to the qualityof the figured grain of the timber, once verypopular for furniture. Although G. robusta willgrow in many soils all over Australia, its naturaldistribution is restricted to an area betweenBundaberg and Coffs Harbour and west to theBunya Mountains. G. robusta must be one ofthe world's most beautiful trees. When in fullbloom, the golden canopy can be seen forsome distance. The trees are semi-deciduouswhen in flower which makes the display morespectacular. This easily grown tree is only suitablefor large gardens and parks. Other Grevilleatrees in the southeast area are Grevillea.hilliana and Grevillea. helmsiae , both rainforestspecies to 10 m with cream flowers.

Grevillea banksii is normally a large shrub orsmall tree, although prostrate and decumbentforms are found in the wild. Flower colourvaries from bright red to pink and creamy-white.The variety forsteri is one of the best shrubs forwell-drained gardens in S.E. Queensland. Longlived and flowering continuously, it is a favouriteof nectar seeking birds and insects. G. banksii isone parent of many hardy hybrids used in gardenssuch as G. "Honey Gem", G. "Misty Pink", G.“Robyn Gordon", G. "Superb", G. "Peaches andCream" and G. "Sylvia".

A similar shrub, restricted to the Boondooma toBiggenden area is Grevillea whiteana. It growsto 5 m and has large terminal brushes of creamflowers. This hardy, long-lived shrub is parent tothe popular hybrids G. "Moonlight", G."Majestic" and G. "Pink Surprise".

Grevillea hodgei, from the Glasshouse Mountains,was once included in the G. whiteana group anddiffers in having smaller flower heads and rustyhairs on the buds. G. hodgei is a long-lastingcut flower and an attractive garden shrub.

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 3

Jan Glazebrook, Logan Village

Grevillea floribunda subsp. tenella is a variableshrub, widespread in inland areas of S. E.Queensland. Some forms worthy of cultivationinclude:

The Crows Nest form. This is a bushy shrub to2 m with greyish foliage. The flower colour variesfrom green to yellow, orange and red. Some aremore attractive than others.

The Durong form is a low compact shrub to 50cm. Flower colour is again variable, but mosthave more yellow than the previous form. Thisform has not proven as easy to grow.

Grevillea juniperina subsp. allojohnsonii isfound around Stanthorpe in S.E. Queensland. Ihave not seen it in the wild, as it is not common.All forms do well in Brisbane gardens and makea low tangly shrub to 2 m across - a great kidand dog barrier with its prickly leaves.

Grevillea quadricauda is an erect shrub to 2 min the Helidon Hills area. The green and redflowers are hidden amongst the foliage. Youneed sandy soil to grow this plant and I havefound it short lived in cultivation.

Grevillea singuliflora, also found at HelidonHills, is a sprawling shrub to 1 m with attractive,blue-green heart-shaped leaves. The greenflowers are barely noticable. This species hasperformed well on our sandy soil, regeneratingfrom seed.

Grevillea linsmithii is a shrub to 3 m tall fromsome peaks in the Boonah area. The newgrowth is a pink colour. Groups of small greenand red flowers are hidden by the foliage. Itmakes an attractive garden plant, but is notlong lived.

Grevillea humilis subsp. lucens is an erect smallshrub from the Glasshouse Mountains. It haspink flowers and has not yet been tried incultivation. It grows near Grevillea leiophylla, butdoes not appear to intergrade with this species.

G. leiophylla is a lightly suckering, weak-stemmed plant from the Glasshouse Mountainsand Sunshine Coast area in dry Wallum. It hasbeen grown to a limited extent in gardens.Grevillea reptans from the Wide Bay area is verysimilar to G. leiophylla and has not been seenin cultivation.

continued

Grevillea viridiflava just makes it into Queenslandin the Girraween area where it is relativelycommon in the moist heath areas. This is a smallshrub to 1 m and suckers lightly. The flowers are agreenish white colour. It is not grown to any extent.

Grevillea scortechinii is a sprawling shrub withtoothed holly-shaped leaves, found in a smallarea near Stanthorpe. The purple-black stylesare attractive. We have found this speciesdifficult to keep looking good in cultivation.

These are the Grevilleas of Southeast Queenslandand as you can see, there is a Grevillea to suitall gardens.

4October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 64

Christine Guthrie, Oatley, NSW

G. banksii.The Grevillea Book, Vol. 2 (P. Olde)

Recovery Plans for Tumut Grevillea andWee Jasper Grevillea

From 'Saving Our Threatened Native Animals andPlants - Recovery and Threat Abatement in Action,2003 Update' by NPWS

Weeds compete with native plants forresources such as light and nutrients. They canaggressively invade areas, displacing plantsand animals, and they pose a major threat tonative species. The control of weeds is often animportant action to assist the recovery of athreatened species. Two species of grevilleaknown from isolated patches in the South WestSlopes have increased in number in responseto the control of aggressive weeds such asblackberry, sweet briar and willow.

Recovery plans for the threatened species,Tumut Grevillea (Grevillea wilkinsonii) and WeeJasper Grevillea (G. iaspicula), commenced in1993. The main recovery actions are the controlof woody weeds, and putting up fencing toprotect plants from browsing by domestic stockand feral goats.

G. wilkinsonii occurs in small, scatteredpopulations along a four kilometre stretch of theGoobarragandra River east of Tumut, where itgrows on five private properties, as well as on aTravelling Stock Reserve and also Crown landadministered by the department of Infrastructure,Planning and Natural Resources.

Enrichment planting of G. wilkinsonii, involvingthe planting of small cuttings propagated fromlocal plants, has significantly boosted the

population within the plots. The landholders onwhose property the majority of these plots arelocated have been very enthusiastic about the projectand more plantings are planned for autumn 2003.

G. iaspicula, known from seven small sites onlimestone outcrops between Wee Jasper andLake Burrinjuck, responded well to blackberrycontrol and fencing to exclude domestic stock.Disappointingly, the January 2003 bushfiresand a poorly controlled hazard reduction burnin 2001 have decimated populations on threesites. A fourth site was largely destroyed byferal goats and on a few occasions the goatshave subsequently breached an exclosurefence erected to protect this population.

Weeds, mainly blackberry and sweet briar,smother the grevillea's habitat and preventseedlings from establishing, so intensive weedcontrol is conducted within the fenced populations.This includes poisoning by spraying or 'cuttingand dabbing', and physical removal of theweeds. It has been discovered that the grevilleais very sensitive to the use of herbicides in itsvicinity, and in the future many of the weeds willhave to be laboriously grubbed out by hand.

Undeterred, and buoyed by their initial success,the recovery team is propagating more cuttings forfurther enrichment plantings, developing an irrigationsystem to water young plants during the drought,and fencing an area of potential habitat.

Protecting Grevillea masonii

In May I met Kathy Rich from NPWS CoffsHarbour who has been commissioned to revisethe recovery plan of Grevillea masonii. G.masonii is a threatened species under theThreatened Species Conservation Act, 1995.We met at the Dilkoon and Gurranang BushFire Brigade Station, approximately 24 km northof Grafton on the Summerland Way where thereare 25 plants growing between the fire shedand the highway.

These plants are being well looked after by wayof marker posts and mowing carefully aroundknown plants. Further it would appear that asmost members of the fire brigade are volunteers,and therefore property owners, that they wouldin turn know what the plants look like andtherefore keep 'an eye for them' on their ownproperties. Keith Delaforce has advised methat, to his knowledge, approximately 1,000plants are known to exist on five neighbouringproperties, but many are reluctant to adviseNPWS. I wonder why?

We then moved to Keith Delaforce's propertyonly 1.5 km north of the fire station. Aninspection of his property reveals that theplants that were marked by stakes 10 years agoare in a healthy, stagnant growth phase.Approximately 25 plants within a 50m radiusthat have been slashed are all producinghealthy, young shoots. In my opinion theseplants could easily be harvested to producesufficient cuttings to propagate over 1,000 plants.

We then travelled to the original type specimen,ie 7.4 km from Summerland Way. This plant isstill alive and well, however not vigorous. It isone of 10 plants protected by bollards. Eightyears ago there were over 24 plants in thewestern set of bollards. The five plants in theeastern section of bollards are all dead. Plantsgrowing on the neighbouring property that areeaten by stock have vigorous growth. I was aninstigator of having these bollards erected, butin hindsight I feel that the plants may all still bealive and vigorous if they had beenoccasionally 'mowed'.

Further east towards Lawrence, the five plantsthat NPWS marked with white markers and redand white streamers are all okay. Still furthereast the six remaining plants from the originaleight all have vigorous growth, seven haverecently been mowed by Maclean Shire, andthe other plant under the fence line is thehealthiest plant that I have yet seen. It appears tobe regularly eaten by stock and/or native fauna.

On a visit the previous week, Calder and Ilooked at one other location. This had nineplants, one has died in the last two years. Allothers are healthy, but again in a stagnantstate, whereas any that have been mowed arevigorous since the recent rains.

Re the two plants near the entrance toKalangadoo Station, on the Tullymorgan Road -one plant is healthy, the other appears virtuallydead but has sent out one new shoot in adesperate attempt to survive. Due to the recentheavy rains we were unable to look at thelocations north of Whiporie.

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 5

Dave Mason, Coraki

G. masonii, The Grevillea BookVol. 3 (P. Olde)

New Species in Flora of AustraliaVol 17a

Number 1.

In the period between 1998 and May 2000,there were no descriptions of new Grevilleaspecies or subspecies formally published. Withpublication of Volume 17a Proteaceae 2,Grevillea, Flora of Australia, eighteen newGrevillea species were described. In addition,two other species were reinstated at specificrank from synonymy and one raised fromsubspecific rank to species. New treatments ofsome other taxa have also resulted in a numberof new subspecies being recognised. In thisseries of articles it is proposed to bringmembers up to date on the new taxa.

New species are G. acropogon, G. cheilocarpa,G. cravenii, G. dunlopii, G. epicroca, G.gariwerdensis, G. humilis, G. imberbis, G.irrasa, G. maherae, G. metamorpha, G.microstyla, G. monslacana, G. parvula, G.reptans, G. virgata, G. viridiflava, G. wiradjuri.

Grevillea divaricata and G. stenogyne havebeen restored from synonymy.

New subspecies, which will be discussed indetail in the articles to follow, have beenrecognised in G. brevifolia, G. commutata, G.decora, G. diffusa, G. halmaturina, G.hookeriana, G. humilis, G. irrasa, G. juniperina,g. lavandulacea, G. manglesioides, G.miqueliana, G. nematophylla, G. neurophylla, G.parviflora, G. petrophiloides, G. plurijuga, G.pyramidalis, G. synapheae, G. tripartita, G.victoriae, G. wickhamii.

None of the four species treated in this articlewere included in the Grevillea Book.

1. Grevillea acropogon Makinson Fl. Aust.17a: 496 (2000)

Type. Western Australia: c. 6 km NNE of LakeUnicup, 7 July 1996, E.Middleton ARA 5755;holo PERTH.

Decumbent to bushy shrub 0.2-0.6(-1)m high 1-2m wide high. Branchlets softly angular tosubterete, loosely and sparsely tomentose.Leaves 1.5-2.5 cm long, loosely subtomentose

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 6

Peter Olde

to subsericeous when young, ultimatelyglabrous or almost so, subsecund, divaricatelybipinnatisect; primary lobes 5-7, 1-1.5 cm long,0.8-1.1 mm wide, linear, stiff, pungent; marginsangularly refracted and enclosing theundersurface over most of its length.Conflorescences decurved, secund, pedunculate,simple, acropetal, 14-20- flowered; rachis 12-17 mm long, sparsely pubescent to almostglabrous; floral bracts 0.6 mm long, 0.4 mmwidce, ovate, sericeous outside, very earlycaducous. Flowers bright red. Pedicels 3-4 mmlong, glabrous; torus 1 mm across, oblique at c.45 degrees; nectary conspicuous, unguiformwith broad, entire margins. Perianth 6 mmlong 1.5 mm wide, zygomorphic, glabrousoutside except scattered appressed hairs onthe limb, the tepals prominently keeled,bearded inside in the upper half just below thecurve, separating to the base on the dorsalsuture, coherent on the ventral suture. Pistil20-25 mm long glabrous; stipe 3.2 mm long,flattened, slightly concave; ovary subtriangularwith base truncate, prominently ridged; stylestrongly looped beyond the perianth beforeanthesis; pollen-presenter 1.5 mm long, 1 mmwide, very oblique to lateral, broadly convex.Fruits 12-14 mm long, 6 mm wide, erect, witha prominent basal ridge and ventral heel, andsometimes a subapical knob; style shortlypersistent, fragile. Pericarp smooth to faintlyrugose, somewhat shiny, c. 0.5 mm thick alongthe ventral suture. Seed with a subapicalswelling and short apical wing, pubescent, witha waxy margin along one side.

Grevillea acropogon is known from only onepopulation of c. 100 plants which grow west ofFrankland in shallow yellow sand overironstone in open proteaceous mallee heathwith Hakea, and Dryandra species. Theoccurrence of this beautiful bright red-floweredspecies in such low numbers renders itsconservation priority very high. Most of thearea of its natural occurrence has been clearedfor pine plantantion or cattle grazing, althoughthe precise area of its occurrence remains asnatural vegetation. The area receives a highnatural rainfall and the topography is low,

continued

swampy marshland that frequently has surfacewater running over it. The species is related toG. ripicola and G. humifusa, G. delta (Group 14sensu Olde and Marriott). G. ripicola hasnarrow-elliptic leaf lobes with the undersurfaceglabrous. G. humifusa has a prostrate habit withelongate branchlets, markedly hispid branchletsand leaves bearing hairs with ramets up to3mm long. G. delta is uniquely distinguished byits hairy pedicels.

Grevillea acropogon is a beautiful species, idealfor cultivation in a high rainfall Mediterraneanclimate. It is a low shrub, ideal for smallgardens or rockeries and flowers for manymonths of the year.

Etymology: Gk acros - summit, pogon - bearded,in reference to hairs near the apices of the tepals.

2. Grevillea cheilocarpa Makinson, Fl. Aust.17a: 505 (2000)

Type Western Australia: Dragon Rock NatureReserve 36128, 75 km east of Kulin onroadside, J.M. Brown 089, 7 Sep 1984,; holoPERTH.

A silvery-grey shrub 1-3 m high, bushy at basewith emergent floral branches. Branchletstomentose-villous, rounded. Leaves (1.0-)1.2-3.2 cm long, 7-13 mm wide, dorsiventral,simple, shortly petiolate, ascending, obovate tosubspathulate; margin entire, slightly thickened,flat to slightly recurved, undulate; surfacessimilar, grey, sometimes with blackish minutelaminal pits, densely sericeous with translucent,sparkling, glass-like biramous hairs, the rametsstraight, appressed; apex apiculate with shortblunt mucro; venation obscure or with obscurelongitudinal wrinkling. Conflorescences terminal,shortly pedunculate, erect, simple or 2-to 3-branched from the base; unit conflorescences2-4 cm long, shortly cylindrical, basipetal;peduncles white-villous; floral rachises white-villous; floral bracts 4.5-7.5 mm long, 0.3-0.5mm wide, linear, villous. Flowers yellowish-white with purple-black tones, acroscopic;pedicels c. 1 mm long, white-villous; torus 0.5mm across, straight; nectary minutelylinguiforim; perianth zygomorphic, looselyopen-villous outside, glabrous inside; pistil 6.5-8 mm long; stipe 0.7-1 mm long glabrous,sometimes sparsely villous on dorsal side;

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 7

ovary loosely villous; style glabrous, sigmoid;pollen-presenter erect, conical with broad basalrim. Follicle 10-12 mm long, compressedellipsoidal with a lip-like flange along ventraledge of each valve, loosely hairy when young,viscid.

Grevillea cheilocarpa is known from twolocations, the second between Hyden and LakeVarley. At neither locality is the speciescommon. It occurs as an emergent in low heathin white sand over laterite. The areaproliferates in numerous proteaceae especiallyDryandra species and there is a very strongironstone presence. There are no otherGrevillea species at either locality. It is clearlya pioneer species with its greatest abundancein areas of road verge that have been recentlydisturbed. It regenerates from seed. Althoughthere are low numbers of this species it may beless endangered than thought and its absencetemporary, due to a short-lived life cycle andnatural succession of other species gainingascendancy after fire.

G. cheilocarpa is a member of Group 3 sensuOlde & Marriott and closely related to butgeographically disjunct from G. polybotrya. G.polybotrya differs in having few hairs on leaves,pistil glabrous, a sparse to dense appressedindumentum or glabrous elsewhere on thebranchlets, pedicels, floral rachis, perianth.The horticultural potential of G. cheilocarpa isrelatively high but assessment of itsperformance in cultivation has not been made.It is found in a Mediterranean climate withrelatively low rainfall in well-drained gravellysand.

Etymology: Gk cheilos - lip; carpos - fruit; inreference to the pronounced lip-like flangealong the ventral margin of each pericarp.

continued

3. Grevillea cravenii Makinson & M.D. Barrett,Fl. Aust. 17a: 494 (2000).

Type Western Australia: c. 10 km east ofPurulba massif, Prince Regent River NatureReserve. M.D. Barrett 706, 2 Feb 1999 Holo:PERTH; Iso CANB, DNA, K, KPBG, MEL.

Low, lignotuberous and sometimes root-suckering, multi-stemmed shrub 0.3-0.5 m high.Leaves (3-)5-9(-10) cm long, (0.8-) 2-.2.5(-4)cm wide, mostly oblong-elliptic with margins flatto shortly recurved, shallow-toothed principallyin the apical half, rarely entire, the upper andlower surfaces similar, tomentose with wavyhairs. Conflorescence erect to slightly decurved,loosely secund; floral rachis 9-25 mm long.Flowers acroscopic. Flower colour : perianthpurplish-red to deep maroon; style crimson.Nectary strongly tridentate. Perianth subvillouswith mixed biramous and glandular hairs, thelimb gingery; pistil 33-40 mm long; stipe 1-1.5mm long; style sparsely hairy in basal half withmixed biramous and glandular indumentum.Fruits (immature only seen) villous.

G. cravenii grows in the Kimberley region ofWestern Australia in grassy Euc. miniatawoodland in sandy loam near sandstone ridges.It is known only from the type locality where itoccurs in reasonable abundance.

This species belongs in Group 35 sensu Olde &Marriott and appears most closely related to the'aquifolium' species which otherwise occur insouth-eastern Australia. These differ in havingdissimilar leaf surfaces and mostly lackingglandular hairs on floral parts. It is most closelyrelated to G. maherae, discussed below, whichoccurs in the same area but which differs inhaving more deeply dissected leaves, morestrongly secund conflorescences, shorter pistilsand slightly different nectary architecture. Adetailed comparison of the fruit indumentumcharacteristics with those of G. maherae is alsoprovided but since only immature fruits of G.cravenii have been seen, these characterstates may not be validly comparable.

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 8

The separation of G. cravenii from G. maheraeis possibly unsustainable and the two taxa maybe conspecific. The taxonomy is based on verylittle fertile material but the authors, who haveactually seen the wild material in the field,clearly believe them to be sufficiently differentalthough some "adjustment of diagnosticfeatures" may be necessary (Fl. Aust. 17A:88).Difficulty of access to fertile material is a majorproblem in the taxonomy of species fromremote areas and only time will permit thisproblem to be addressed.

Etymology: Named in honour of Lyndley (Lyn)Alan Craven (1945- ) of the Australian NationalHerbarium, who first collected this species.

4.Grevillea maherae Makinson , Fl. Aust.17a: 493 (2000)

Type Western Australia: c. 10 km west ofnew Mount Elizabeth Homestead, M.D. Barrett340, 13 Mar 1998. Holo: PERTH.

Low, lignotuberous and sometimes root-suckering, multi-stemmed shrub 0.3-0.5 m high.Leaves 4-6.5 cm long, (1.2-) 2-3.4 cm wide,mostly rhomboid with margins shortly recurved,toothed, principally in the apical half, the upperand lower surfaces similar, tomentose withwavy hairs. Conflorescence erect to slightlydecurved, secund; floral rachis 10-20(-35) mmlong. Flowers acroscopic. Flower colour :perianth pinkish-red to maroon with gingerylimb; style red. Nectary shallow-tridentate.Perianth tomentose with mixed biramous andglandular hairs, the limb subvillous, gingery;pistil 29-30 mm long; stipe 0.8-1 mm long; stylesparsely hairy in basal half with mixedbiramous and glandular indumentum. Fruits 11-13 mm long, tomentose.

G. maherae is known only from the type localityon Mt Elizabeth Station where it grows in ahabitat similar to G. cravenii but in deepercolluvial soils below the sandstone ridges.Although no description is given, the seedshave been described as 'plump' and somewhatreminiscent of those of G. nana (Fl. Aust. 17A:89).

Etymology: Named to recognise Robyn Maherof Derby who first discovered this species withthe assistance of her son Joshua.

Open Garden

If the newsletter is late it is probably caused byme. We put everything on hold (including ournursery) because we had open garden here inearly September. Then we had much catchingup to do.

We had over 1,000 visitors and dislayed about700 varieties (species and hybrids) and apartfrom a few New Caledonian grevilleas and ahandful of proteas all other plants were natives.In all there are well over 2,000 plants. FlannelFlowers are probably the most numerous butgrevilleas are well represented and incluespecies from all states and Northern Territory,excluding Tasmania. We placed a number nearrepresentatives of all plants and sold acomplete (almost) list of plants correspondingto the numbers.

This was the fifth open garden we have takenpart in and we have used the above systemeach time. Visitors have a list to take away andworry their nursery and I am saved the problem

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 9

Merv Hodge, Logan Reserve, QLD

Merv Hodge, Logan Reserve, QLD

of running from one end of the garden to theother to identify plants. We sell plants producedon our nursery but this does not stop visitorsfrom going to a large native nursery about 20minute's drive from here. At each of our opengardens the have experienced much largerthan normal business.

We promote the garden as a "water wise" gardenbecause it relies mainly on rain. The grevilleasflower well at that time and attract birds so thecrowd respond to them. Unfortunately they wantsome of the hybrids that we haven't let looseyet. Our attendance over the five years hasaveraged more than a thousand per year and thiscompares well with may of the exotic gardens inthe scheme.

I am satisfied that natives (particularly grevilleas)are still popular so do not let the pessimists tellyou that they are losing their appeal.

Mistaken Identity

Sometimes Grevilleas appear in nurseries withthe wrong label, often a mistake by the personapplying the label in the wholesale nursery.However the most frustrating errors are thosewhich are produced in large numbers and thena label is made which shows a plant with thewrong name.

Most readers are familiar with Grevilleastenomera a grey foliaged plant from WesternAustralia. There are, however, incorrect labelswith that name for two plants which areprobably G. pinaster hybrids (one semi-prostrate). It is impossible to get these labelsout of the system.

Another mistake which has shown up is a labelwhich is named G. 'Poorinda Anticipation' butthe photograph is G. towera. I have alerted twowholesale tubestock suppliers but unfortunatelytheir customers still buy the labels from labelsuppliers because that is the name they knowthe plant by.

It did cause me some problems earlier becauseof the insistence of southern friends that G.'Poorinda Anticipation' was the best rootstockfor some species. In fact I have found that G.towera is also very good. There is a correctlabel for G. towera that looks very similar to theG. 'Poorinda Anticipation' label.

Note the photocopy of various leaves. It isobvious that G. towera and G. 'PoorindaAnticipation' are nothing alike so one wondershow the mistake was made. G. towera and G.'Bronze Rambler' leaves are very similar. G.towera could be described as looking like anupright G. 'Bronze Rambler'.

By the way the leaf named G. barklyana hybridis sold as G. barklyana. This si wrong of course.Can anyone tell me the parents of this plant andif it has a cultivar name? It is a large vigorousplant and has red toothbrush flowers.

I hope that all of the above has not added to theconfusion.

continued

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 10

Scale: 6mm = 10mm

10mm

Grevillea toweraGrevillea ‘Bronze Rambler’

Grevillea‘Poorinda Regina’

Grevillea barklyanaHybrid

Grevillea‘Poorinda Anticipation’

A New Garden of Grevilleain Toowoomba, SE Qld.

The 28 Grevilleas described in this article havebeen established in less than 2 years in agarden of introduced lantana soil with raisedbeds for good drainage. Rock retaining wallswere utilised to prevent soil loss. All gardenbeds are mulched with lucerne and sugar canewaste. All plants grow and flower well aided bygood rainfall and a pH of 6. The lantana soil iseminently suitable as it retains sufficientresidual moisture with a high worm population.

G. 'Bon Accord'.A hybrid of Grevillea johnsonii and G. wilsoniiwith needle foliage, 2m x 4m, and bright redflowers in spring.

G. 'Billy Bonker'.A hybrid of G. nana ssp. abbreviata and G. 'SidCadwell'? It is 1m x 2m, with ever-floweringpink brushes and a spreading habit.

G. baueriThis is a mounding prostrate plant 1m x 2m withoblong-elliptical leaves 20mm long. Flowers arered and cream in terminal umbels in winterand spring.

G. beadleana.Most attractive soft pinnately lobed foliage withfresh new growth. It is fast growing and ofdense habit, 2.5m x 2.5m. The dark redterminal toothbrush-like flowering racemes arenot abundant but occur in winter and spring. Hisplant occurs in elevated areas of New Englandand is a rare but most adaptable shrub.

G. 'Bonfire'.The same parents as G. 'Bon Accord' 2m x 4mand similar to same. Bright red flowers in springare a great attraction.

G. 'Cooroora Cascade’.This seedling of G. 'Golden Lyre', 50cm x 2-3m,has dense light green foliage. Bright gold brushes10 to 20cm long occur in summer and autumn.(G. 'Golden Lyre' is a seedling of G. formosa.)

G. depauperata (formerly G. brownii).An outstanding spreading prostrate plant withdense foliage smothered in multitudes of brightorange/red flowers. The leaves are small,green and elliptical.

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 11

Norm McCarthy, Toowoomba, QLD

G. 'Ember Glow'.A dense growing plant 1m x 2m with daintymultiple orange flowers. It is fast growing, hassmall leaves and is ever-flowering.

G. 'Flamingo'.A F2 Geisha hybrid. It is fast growing to 3m x2m with large magnificent deep pink brushes inquantity for most of the year.

G. 'Honeyeater Heaven'.A pleasing shrub with small grey/green foliagewith red and cream flowers, reminiscent of G.lanigera. A reliable long flowering plant 1m x 1m.

G. lanigera Mt Tamboritha form.A good dense, small foliaged groundcover withred and cream flowers long term. It can spreadextensively if desired.

G. leiophylla.A sprawling fine foliaged ground cover fromcoastal areas. Flowers are pink to lilac or whiteand fragrant, leaves are linear, profuse 2mm x 30mm.

G. 'Lollypop'.A grafted plant with fine dense foliage, 1.5m x1.5m. It is very floriferous with the shortraspberry red brushes appearing most of the year.

G. 'Lime Spider'.It has fine variegated foliage providing goodcontrast to other plants and has long floweringgold branches. It is a sport of G. 'Honey Gem'.

G. 'Orange Marmalade'.This is a hybrid of G. venusta and G.glossadenia, having the entire foliage of thelatter. Flowers are orange with burgundy stylesin similar arrangement to G. venusta. Like theparents, it is long flowering. A most desirablehybrid that is fast growing and long flowering,3m x 5m.

G. 'Peaches and Cream'.A fast growing interesting shrub with brightgreen, much divided, evergreen foliage. Itsultimate dimensions are 1.2m high x 1.5mspread. Apparently ever-flowering, it producesbrush-like flowers opening cream anddarkening to peach colour. A great additionwhich is so aptly named - highly recommended.

continued

G. 'Pink Midget'.It was a spontaneous seedling that arose in thegarden of Merv Hodge. One parent is almostcertainly G. leiophylla , a small speciesoccurring in moist areas of Queensland'scoastal Wallum sands. The most likely otherparent was a nearby G. humilis ssp. maritinia. Itcan grow to 0.5m high x 1m wide. It is frosttolerant and carries small pink flowers (similarto G. sericea) throughout the year. It respondswell to severe pruning. It copes with dryconditions but does best with occasionalwatering in dry weather. This plant has PBR.

G. rhyolitica.A comparatively new introduction withorange/res pendulous flowers. This plantgrowing to 1m x 1m is ever flowering and hasproved to last 10 days in a vase. Foliage iscompact and mid green. Leaves are entire andelliptical and may measure 6cm x 2.5cm. AHeavy flowerer and most acceptable.

G. repens.A fast growing dense ground cover with a 3mspread. Leaves are ovate and 50mm long withprickly margins and pink new growth. Terminalracemes of toothbrush flowers in spring andsummer are maroon through t red or pink.

G. rosmarinifolia.This may be the original Cox's River formdiscovered I 1822. It has dense, terete, soft,grey/green foliage with arching branches 1.5mx 1.5m. The terminal flowers are red, pink andcream along the branches.

G. 'Softly Softly'.A hybrid of G. alpina x G. lanigera, it is a compactsmall shrub 40cm x 50 cm, with soft grey/greencrowded short linear foliage. The pink and creamflower clusters are mainly terminal.

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 12

G. 'Superb'.A proven manipulated hybrid involving G.bipinnatifida red and G. banksii white. It growsto 1.5m x 2m and is ever-flowering, withapricot/pink brushes and a yellow style. Thedense, divided, bright green foliage can be wellpruned to retain shape, vigour and floweringability. A no problems plant which is highlyornamental.

G. 'Sylvia'.An F2 hybrid of G. 'Pink Surprise' to 2m x 2m.It has attractive grey/green foliage and brightrose pink, multiple terminal flowers withpink/red styles.

Grevillea depauperata

Grevillea ‘Flamingo’

candelabroides plurijuga uprightcrithmifolis polybotryadecora pterosperma SADryandri ssp pterosperma WAendlicheriana pteridifoliaeriobotrya pulchellaglauca pyramidalisgoodii quercifoliahuegelii refractaleucopteris robustamoniticola stenobotryapetrophiloides teretifoliapilulifera

A. I don't think there is one best practice repruning. Tip pruning at any stage willincrease the bushiness of plants. Takingthe seed head off is a form of tip pruning. Ifyou take it off too far down, then the planthas to produce nrw growth on which toflower, so taking the seed head willmaximise flowers.

Many will flower for long periods, so thereis no one right time to prune. Prob better todo a little more often than a lot less frequently.Some don't like heavy pruning -PoorindaBlondie, Ivanhoe, Hookeriana hybrid (RedHooks). These need little more often. Wefind they die if too savagely pruned. Manyothers we have chain sawed. If somethingis very big, I savagely cut some of thelimbs, wait until it recovers and then repeatthe exercise.It may take a couple of years.Hope this helps.

John Sparrow

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 13

Your Questions & Answers

Q. I have a number of grevilleas of variousages ands sizes at my recently acquiredproperty on the Atherton Tablelands (NorthQueensland, Australia). Some branch-lopping was required to prevent three ofthe older trees from 'getting out of line'.Results OK.

The other smaller trees of 'the right' size gothrough their mystifying cycles offlowering/seed-producing.

What is considered 'best pruning practice'for keeping these smaller trees at abouttheir current size while encouraging thedevelopment of heavy flowering during thenext 'flowering cycle'.Is it OK to prune trees of acceptable sizeby simply snipping off the seed-headsfollowing flowering? If this is OK, shouldthe stem be pruned immediately below thebottom seeds or further down the stem?Currently I'm just pruning off the seed-headsbut would feel much more 'confident' witheach snip if someone would advise if thisis good/bad/best/worst practice and /or ifthere is a better way to maintain the currentsize while encouraging future flowering.

Seed Bank

Judy Smith has been the Seed Bank Officerfor many years and she would like to have abreak. The job doesn't require a lot of time soif anyone is interested in taking over from Judyplease contact Peter Olde.Thanks to Judy for all the work she has done.

$1.50 + s.a.e.

Please note new phone number for Judy Smith(Seed Bank) 9579 1136Please include a stamped self addressedenvelope to Judy Smith,15 Cromdale Street Mortdale, 2223

Free + s.a.e.

G. banksii tree longistylabanksii grey leaf petrophiloidesbarklyana phanerophlebiacaleyi rivularisCaloundra Gem robustaCopper Rocket scortechiniiendlicheriana Sid ReynoldsExcellence stenobotryajohnsonii Superbajuncifolia thelemannianaleucopteris trilobalinearfolia white trifidalongifolia venusta

White Wings

Financial Report - October 2003

Income

Subcriptions $286.00Seeds 1,482.00Interest 215.00Donations 15.00

$1,998.00

Expenditure

Newsletter Publishing $454.80Postage 148.80Stationery 10.95Post Office 52.00

$666.55

$10,441.89 in Interest Bearing Deposit tillJanuary 2004.

Balance in Current Account as at 17/10/03 is$5,210.77

Office Bearers

LeaderPeter Olde138 Fowler Rd, Illawong 2234(02) 9543 2242 petero@australians.com

Treasurer and Newsletter EditorChristine GuthriePO Box 275, Penshurst 2222Phone / Fax (02) 9579 4093

Curator of Living CollectionNeil MarriottPO Box 107, Stawell 3380 Vic

Curator of Grevillea Park BulliRay Brown29 Gwythir Avenue, Bulli 2516(02) 4284 9216

October 2003 Grevillea Study Group No. 66 14

If a cross appears in the box, your subscription of$5.00 is due.Please send to the Treasurer, ChristineGuthrie, PO Box 275, Penshurst 2222.Please make all cheques payable to theGrevillea Study Group.

2002 2003

Email Group

This email group was begun by John and RuthSparrow from Queensland. Free membership.

To subscribe, go to groups.yahoo.com and register,using the cyber-form provided. You must provide auser name and password as well as your emailaddress to enable continuing access to the sitewhich houses all emails and discussions to date.

You will receive a confirming email back andthen you are able to access the site whereinyou can select the groups to which you wouldlike to subscribe. In this case search for"grevilleas" and then subscribe.

Following this you will receive the latest emailsregularly in your email to which you canrespond. This is a good way to encourage newgrowers and those interested in the genus.

Postmessage: grevilleas@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe: grevilleas-subscribe@yahoo.com

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List owner: grevilleas-owner@yahoo.com

URL to this page:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grevilleas

On-line Contact1. President’s email addresspetero@australians.com

2. The email groupgrevilleas@yahoogroups.com

3. URL for Grevillea Study Group websitehttp://users.bigpond.net.au/macarthuraps/gevillea_study_group.htm