Re: Request of help on some australian plants

Alessandra Vinciguerra and Cristina Puglisi wrote:
> 
> Hi, to everybody. I was wondering if any of the list members from Australia
> could help me with some  plant names.
> It's almost a follow up to the recent discussion, and it shows how hard it
> can be to understand a text when common names are used.
> I am translating a text about Australian nature, but I find that the
> reference to plants are a little tricky.  it appears that the common names
> used, even when they read like the English ones, refer to different plants
> than in Europe. Of course my vocabularies can't be of help, they never refer
> to Australian English.

You're so right, Alessandra! I'll fill in what I know, and some of our
more erudite members living in other parts of Australia can no doubt
clear up the rest.

> To start with -what's a Billabong? Is it marsh, or dry land? What would be its vegetation?  

A billabong is, geographically, a cut-off meander, an old stream bed
which fills at flood time. Its vegetation has to be able to withstand
both flooding and long dry periods; usually mainly Eucalypt ssp. and
Melaleucas.

> And these are the plants:
> Snow gum -I guess this is an Eucalyptus -which one? 

Yes it is a twisted and stunted Eucalypt which grows above the snowline,
but I don't know the species name.

> Marsh marigold - in England this would be Caltha palustris -is it over there as well?

Sorry, don't know it but surely not the English one.

> Mountain ash -this really puzzles me, because in the following page the text states tht it leaves contain Eucalyptol. Therefore it can't be neither Fraxinus sp., nor Sorbus sp.  It must be another Eucalyptus.

Yes, this is the world's tallest flowering plant, a majestic Eucalypt.
Name please someone from the Eastern States?

> Sundew plants - I gather it is an epyphite palnt -it says they find their food in the air. No idea. 

No, it is a normal plant (Drosera ssp.)which gets some of its food from
the air in the form of insects which it traps on its leaves. The leaves
carry hairs which bear drops of sticky "dew" - when an insect becomes
stuck, the leaf closes and the plant produces juices which digest the
insect. After the juices are absorbed the leaf opens and the insect
skeleton blows away. A means of surviving in soils which lack nitrogen.

> Paperbark -can't be a maple, I guess. Suppose it's another Eucalyptus, isn't it?

Not this time -it's a Melaleuca, some species (not all) of which have
bark which peels off in sheets. Often used as a base for drawings,
paintings etc. Melaleuca are in the Myrtaceae and thus their leaves
contain volatile oils - in this case, the well-known "Tea-tree oil" is
obtained from some kinds of Melaleuca.


> Sweet plum - is this a real plum (Prunus dulcis) or do you have another plant that's called like this? 

If it is a native, it's probably something quite different. Could be a
Podocarpus or Exocarpus, or a lilly-pilly (Syzygium). One would have to
be a local to know what is referred to by these names! However, my "bush
tucker" book mentions a Prunus which grows in the Queensland rainforest.

> Barramundi - I can't understand if this is a plant or an animal - a fish perhaps.

Yes, it is a very sought-after fish.

> White and red apple tree - again, would this be  real Malus sp, maybe domestica? 

Depends on the context and where it is growing. People have this habit
of calling any old fruit an apple! Unless feral, probably not Malus.
> 
> Thank you very much,
> 
> Alessandra
> ****************************************************
> 
> Alessandra Vinciguerra
> American Academy in Rome
> Via Masina,5
> 00153 Roma
> Tel:0039\6\5846.444
> 
> puglisi@librs6k.vatlib.it
> 
> Check the Academy's Web site: http://www.aarome.org

-- 
Beverly Elischer
Perth, Western Australia
Ph. +61 8 9386 5244
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