Botany Nerds Ahoy
basesix wrote:
ah, yup! cheers, AW.. I'll send you some 'whatever is flowering' honey from my bush block ; )
You’ve got bees and beehives ?
yep, I had six, down to three (mice got one a few years ago, two hives moved on during hot summers).
basesix wrote:
yep, I had six, down to three (mice got one a few years ago, two hives moved on during hot summers).
Cheers. I’m off on Thursday, maybe wait until I return if you’re sending anything. Much appreciated. AW
Just a heads up. Netflix has an Australia documentary called Follow The Rain. World famous fungi hunters, a photographer and a filmmaker….have produced an amazingly beautiful doco. The Fungi is the star but the photography and time lapse sequences are something else.
Sad state of our oceans but what a great result for this little guy . Even if AI is involved .
How are these big fellows?
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/a-new-species-of-sydney-funnel-web-…
Have you seen the size of them? Just heard the bloke the new species was name after (pictured in the article) describe himself as a big bloke with big hands - the fecker fills his palm.
Think I shared the story here, but we were gardening levelling a rock garden and the Ms got a Trapdoor grab her hand and strike multiple times, bit through the glove 3 of them. It was rad looking up from the shovel and seeing how big it looked hanging onto her fingers, she reckoned it felt like being held by a small hand. Quick trip to Doc and spider ID'd as not a nasty one, she was OK, numb in spot where bites got through.
velocityjohnno wrote:
How are these big fellows?
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/a-new-species-of-sydney-funnel-web-…
That's great, now all they have to do is bring back spitfires and my childhood summertime horrorshow is complete.
Must've been weird having the big dangerous spiders as a kid, growing up in WA we had redbacks (sent bro to hospital age 2), I can't recall coming across any big trapdoor or funnel web types. Not even white tails.
velocityjohnno wrote:
Must've been weird having the big dangerous spiders as a kid, growing up in WA we had redbacks (sent bro to hospital age 2), I can't recall coming across any big trapdoor or funnel web types. Not even white tails.
Not so much weird as simply an accepted danger, one that you were warned about a lot. No sticking fingers in dark holes - which perhaps should be an all round life lesson.
Came face to face with many funnel webs growing up, though no-one I know was ever bitten.
Spitfires on the other hand...
Different again for children in FNQ
https://canoblogfood.blogspot.com/2008/10/giant-australian-spider-eatin…
Here's a great trapdoor spider relocation story from the Porongorups:
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2025/01/rescuin…
Mate reckons his mother in law got bitten by a funnel web.
And the spider died.
haha
Got bitten on the arse by a bull ant last week.
I'm still traumatised.
I sat on a centipede by accident last summer. Idescribable pain instantly.
Those fuckers pack a punch.
^^ yoiks!
Zen and Tubeshooter provide the answer to the age old question - what bit you on the arse?
Haha Zen, when I lived on the farm, my father got bit on the bum by a big fuck off centipede that had hidden in his shorts overnight, he was in agony crying screaming. Secretly us three kids and mum had a good old laugh since he was such a cee you next tuesday
Front gate was about 3km from the house and we used to ride our treadlies there to wait for the school bus, the area was rife with trapdoor spiders and the dare was stick ya finger down there and pull out the next, never got bit, maybe because I had just performed Kanchō on my brother, used the same finger
Get this one up ya!
Actually not a stinging beastie, but the colours would suggest otherwise. Bottlebrush Sawfly. Pterygophorus cinctus.
Is that your photo blackers ? Great shot if it is , freaky wings .
Supafreak wrote:
Is that your photo blackers ? Great shot if it is , freaky wings .
Cheers Supa, yes I took it on my phone. It landed on a sail board I was working on. Looks like it has a big sting at the back but apparently they don't. Great colours.
Summer grapes from the desert……………,,,,,has left me cravin’ for, more Summer Wine( Sinatra & Hazelwood)
Nitraria billardierei Dillon Bush, Nitre Bush (et al). Nitrariaceae family
blackers wrote:
Get this one up ya!
Actually not a stinging beastie, but the colours would suggest otherwise. Bottlebrush Sawfly. Pterygophorus cinctus.
Blackers. Hi mate.
An outstanding photo of a sawfly.
What is it with the attraction to surf craft by these critters ?
Here’s one on my twinnie in Agnes Water last year.
A couple of coastal desert dwelling organisms.
Painted Dragon (Ctenophorus pictus ) and Westringia sp. ( I think Westringia rigida)
basesix wrote:
putricia live feed from sydney botanic gardens:
Basesix. Hi pal. Hope all is good with you and your family.
Nice to hear from you.
Isn’t it enlightening that in a world of visual and media, gadget distractions that people are still genuinely interested in oddities of the biological world.
Warms the cockles of ya heart.
Amorphophallus sp. doing its stinking best work.
I saw the one in the Geelong Botanic Gardens a few months ago doing its stuff.
A couple of hundred cars with kids queuing up for a look and a sniff. AW
heya ADub, all good at our end..
^ I've seen world surf comps with less watchers!
you back from out west? how'd huey behave?
basesix wrote:
heya ADub, all good at our end..
^ I've seen world surf comps with less watchers!
you back from out west? how'd huey behave?
Basesix. Hi .
Yes, got home late last night.
Oh. my lordy me, what a trip.
Everyone has seen the articles posted about the two states that copped the relentless swell.
18 days, only two flat days, offshore everyday bar one, swell just kept on coming, day after day, one get out of the water afternoon as a ‘man in the grey suit’ made an appearance at the troglodytes rock.
Great hot weather mostly, great vibe around the camps, geez us Aussies are friendly people, everyone says hello. Lots of international tourists staying over a night or two en route west or east, they loved the place, most not surfers just travelling.
Caught fish, had an awesome camp setup, solar energy in full production that would leave Elon Musk green with envy, I was declared the unofficial Minister for Energy by many a visitor, three fridges and a freezer running.
Epic trip, my best to that location ever.
Added a few more bird species observations to that locations list.
Susie and Chris are great hosts, I gave them a copy of The Australian Bird Guide, they were chuffed. AW
This dropped at my feet on my morning walk , it’s quite amazing the variety of trees that grow in beach sand over here . 
Planted a tiny passion fruit vine two years ago, and this summer has been incredible.
Photo is a few weeks old, we're getting three times that every day now. Been feeding works mates and our neighborhood, getting tomatoes, bananas, zucchini, plums etc etc in return. So much fun.
Supafreak wrote:
This dropped at my feet on my morning walk , it’s quite amazing the variety of trees that grow in beach sand over here .
Supafreak. Hi mate. Hope alls good at your end.
A very common tree of the Indian Ocean , SE Asia and Australia- Papuan region, west Pacific Ocean.
Common in NE Australia.
Barringtonia asiatica Fish Poison Tree.
Associated often with mangrove systems.
Sand contains way more organic matter than most of us would think, it’s there we just can’t see it. All the best.
P.S. I’m going to email Ben at head office to get your permission for him to email me your personal email address. If that’s ok ?
I’d much rather keep our plans off the Swellnet screen, I tend to forget which forums we were discussing our trip on.
Get back to you shortly. AW
AW, ever heard of this Grevillea? Caught news of it on local radio this morning.
https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/news/one-of-a-kind-hilltop-with-in…
seeds wrote:
AW, ever heard of this Grevillea? Caught news of it on local radio this morning.
https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/news/one-of-a-kind-hilltop-with-in…
Seeds. Hi mate, hope you guys are well.
Well, that’s made my day that’s for sure.
I’ve not heard of that Grevillea previously. Looks an interesting plant.
Chuffed that the Queensland government purchased it and has done so to many other areas as well.
It highlights sheer progression and bundles of care from a state that’s very rich.
I scrolled down and saw a list of floral and faunal species that have also been found and protected.
Those areas up in the hills near there are rocky, warm and windy.
Soils are generally weathered, old and low in nutrients, that’s why many of those particular plants are present, especially Proteaceous ones.
Let’s hope this land acquisition process gains solid momentum. AW
Yeah mate turns out there’s a few endangered species local to that area.
I wonder if they’ll ever be propagated.
reckon natural-world-engagers and philosophers might enjoy this.. poet David Whyte.
specific to this thread, some holistic Galapagos reflections at 20:00 - 26:00:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/david-whyte-poet-p…
(he is speaking in Sydney tomorrow and in Melbourne on 25 February).
Seems a keen interest for some, so why not.