AUSTRALIAN NATIVES II BHT225

Develop your ability to identify, select, cultivate and explain commercial applications for appropriate varieties of low growing Australian native flowering plants in a variety of situations.

CONTENT

There are 8 lessons as outlined below:‑ 

1.  Introduction

• Scope and Nature
• Review of the system of plant identification
• Resources, sources for further information contacts (ie: nurseries, seed, clubs, etc.)

2.  Growing Conditions

• Plant Relationships
• Understanding Environmental Zones across Australia
• Soils; composition, colloids, peds, texture, chemical properties, pH and nutrient availability
• Improving Soils
• Natives on Low Fertility Soils
• Diagnosis of Nutritional Problems
• Inspecting Plants and diagnosing health issues
• Preventing Problems
• Pests and Diseases on Natives
• Planting, staking, mulching, watering
• Planting; different tequniques for plant establishment
• Pruning Australian Native Plants
• Water Management -review
• Propagation Technique -review

3.  The Heaths and Similar Plants

• Scope and Nature of Heaths
• Heath habitats
• Epacridaceae; the Epacris Family
• Proteaceae, Myrtaceae, Thymeleaceae, Dilleniaceae
• Glossary of botanical terms used to describe plants
• Introductory Plant Morphology
• Review of plant genera and many of their species:
• Grevillea
• Hakea
• Hibbertia
• Hypocalymma
• Isopogon
• Leptospermum
• Melaleuca
• Micromyrtus
• Pimelia
• Richea
• Telopea
• Thryptomene
• Verticordia
• Acronidium

4.  The Daisy Family

• Characteristics of Asteraceae
• Floral Structure of Asteraceae
• Review of culture and distinguishing characteristics of various Asteraceae genera, including:
• Heichrysum and Bracteantha
• Helipterum
• Olearia
• Orthronathus
• Rhodanthe

5.  The Legumes

• Common characteristics of all legumes
• Distinguishing Fabaceae, Caesalpinacea and Mimosaceae
• Acacia
• Albizzia
• Eutaxia
• Goodia
• Hardenbergia
• Hovea
• Indigofera
• Kennedya
• Pultenea

6.  Other common groups

• Alogyne
• Bauera
• Burseria
• Clematis
• Correa
• Crowea
• Dampiera
• Hibbertia
• Hibiscus
• Lobelia
• Leschenaultia
• Pandorea
• Pittosporum
• Pratia
• Prostanthera
• Rhagodia
• Sollya
• Viola
• Westringia, etc.
• Basic Landscape Design; Design Procedure, Drawing a plan
• Native Plants for Specific Situations; long flowering species, climbing species, etc

7.  The Monocotyledons

• Blandfordia
• Bulbine
• Caesia
• Calectasia
• Calostemma
• Carex
• Cordyline
• Dianella
• Lomandra
• Danthonia
• Patersonia
• Stypandra
• Anigozanthus
• Xanthorrhea, etc.

8.  Commercial Applications: Growing Native Cut Flowers

• Production Plan for Cut Flowers
• Selection Criteria for Plants

Aims

Heath like native wildflowers

Native heath-like vegetation is characterised by a dense, low cover of shrubs usually no more than 2.0m high with a few species occurring as small trees. Most Australian heaths belong to the related Epacridacae and Ericaceae families (although the Epacridaceae is much more developed in Australia then the Ericaceae). However heath communities (of plants) include species within genera from other plant families such as Proteaceae, Myrtaceae, Dilleniaceae, Thymelaceae and so on. Genera that have species of heath-like plants include: Hakea, Grevillea, Hibbertia, Hypocalymma, Isopogon, Melaleuca, Micromyrtus, Pimelea and many more.

Habitat

Heath plants are found in a range of habitats including, open forest, woodland, coastal and alpine areas but are more commonly associated with low growing, exposed vegetation called heath-land. They are not usually found in arid areas or rain-forests. They grow on poorly drained or shallow soils low in nutrients.

General Description

Heath-like plants have leaves that are often stiff and sharply pointed and have narrowly palmate veins. The leaf arrangement sometimes sheaths around the stems, but is usually alternate or spirally arranged. The flowers occur in spikes, racemes or are occasionally solitary; they are usually cup-shaped or tubular having four (or five) spreading lobes. Stamen numbers usually correspond with the amount of lobes however some species have male and female flowers occurring on separate plants. In most cases flowers are small but some such as Epacris have showy flowers. The fruit of heath-like plants is in the form of a drupe (a fleshy fruit with a hard stone enclosing the seed) or as a capsule that splits to release the seed.

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME FAMILIES

Epacridaceae- the Epacris family

Plants in the Epacridaceae family are mostly attractive, small, woody shrubs that usually grow from 50cm to 2metres high. The name is taken from the genus Epacris the floral emblem for Victoria. It is an important major family of heath-land like plants in Australia. In Europe heath-land plants are known as heathers and the major family for these plants there and world-wide is Ericaceae. In Australia plants in the Ericaceae family are poorly represented this family comprises plants such as Erica, Rhododendron, Kalmia. Pieris etc.   

The Epacridaceae family comprises about 34 genera distributed in Australia, South-east Asia, the Pacific Islands and South America.

Leaves are usually small, pointed, tough, short stalked or sessile; venation is almost parallel
flowers are regular with the perianth in 5’s; Sepals often grade into bracts and the petals are fused into a tube; They have 5 stamens with each of the anthers opening by a single slit; the ovary is superior.

This family is often difficult to propagate with low germination rates and cutting strike rates are variable. Current research suggests that mychorrizae taken from soil around which established plants are growing and added to the propagating mix - may have a beneficial effect on the strike rate.

Proteaceae – the protea family

The Proteaceae family is made up of approximately 75 genera 45 of which are native to Australia (the rest are from South Africa and South America - however no genera are common to all three countries. Plants have superficial similarities only in plant morphology to those found in South Africa. The name Proteaceae comes from the South African plant genus Protea. In Australia the Proteaceae family include genera such as Banksia, Grevillea, Hakea, Lomatia, Telopea and Stenocarpus.

The Proteaceae family comprise small shrubs to small trees. Leaves are stiff and leathery and often terete and pungent they are usually simple, but also often lobed or deeply divided. The flowers are often characteristically irregular; perianth 4’s in a single whorl; stamens 4; ovary superior. Fruit often a woody or leathery follicle, sometimes aggregated in cones.

Generally plants in this family require well-drained soils and commonly suffer from iron deficiency and phosphorus toxicity in cultivation. Some rainforest genera, including Macadamia, are an exception. They require more phosphorus than other genera in the family. Root rot is also a common problem. Propagation is commonly from seed for most species, with the exception of notable exception of grevilleas, which are grown from cuttings. Many species from other genera have, however, been successfully grown by cuttings or grafting.

Myrtaceae – the myrtle family

The family Myrtaceae has more then 3000 species within around 150 genera. They have a wide distribution in tropical and warm-temperate regions of the world such as South East Asia, Central and South America, the Mediterranean region (where the genus Myrtus comes from) and South Africa. Genera found in Australia include: Eucalyptus, Corymbia, Angophora, Leptospermum, Melaleuca, Callistemon, Syzygium, Eugenia etc.

All species in the Myrtaceae family are evergreen, woody plants with essential oils. The flowers are in multiples of 4 or 5. A very notable characteristic of this family is that the phloem is located on both sides of the xylem not just outside as is the case in most other plants.

Leaves are usually simple, usually entire, and alternate to mostly opposite or occasionally whorled. The surface of the leaves is commonly dotted with noticeable oil glands.

Inflorescences are variable according to genera and may be solitary flowers, or umbel-like or raceme-like. Flowers are bi-sexual usually have a base number of 5 petals; petals are very tiny or absent in some genera. Sepals are usually 4 or 5 and often reduced to lobes. The stamens are numerous, brightly coloured and very conspicuous. The ovary is simple and usually half-inferior, from almost inferior to almost superior, 1- to multi-locular; The fruit a loculicidal capsule, nut or berry, rarely a schizocarp or drupe.

Members of this family are generally hardy and adaptable to a wide range of conditions. Most can be readily propagated from seed, and many of the smaller shrub types are often also propagated by cuttings.

Differences between some genera:

·       Eucalyptus - the flower has a fused perianth (the outer envelope of a flower, consisting of either the calyx or the corolla, or both). At maturity they become a deciduous operculum (a cap-like structure which protects the stamens in the bud and is shed when the flower opens). The stamens are many and conspicuous,

·       Melaleuca - the stamens are arranged in five bundles and are the conspicuous part of the flower; woody capsules are sessile and clustered around the stem,

·       Callistemon - have similar flowers and fruit to Melaleuca however the stamens are not clustered into bundles.

REFERENCE BOOKS
ACS operates a student bookshop that supplies a range of horticulture texts to supplement our courses.
Many are written by the principal (well known gardening author John Mason), or other staff. All have been reviewed and approved by our academic experts (to be accurate and relevant to students studying our horticulture courses).

• Student discounts are available to anyone studying with ACS Distance Education.
• Both printed books and ebooks (as downloads) available

GROWING AUSTRALIAN NATIVES 2nd edition

http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/1676-growing-australian-natives-2nd-edition.aspx
Click on above link for sample pages, or to buy a copy and download it immediately online (Can be read on a computer, ipad, iphone, lap top, most book readers or similar devices).