Exploration took place on a grey, humid day that gave a genuine sweaty rainforest atmosphere to the trip. Ken had obtained permission for us to have a nosy along the left (west) bank of the creek, upstream from the Ipswich Rd bridge. We spent a lot of time pushing through thigh high rank grass, negotiating hidden logs or climbing through, under and over Parsonsia and Cat's claw vines. This made our discoveries all the more rewarding!
The overall impression is of riverine vegetation dominated by Cat's claw creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati). It has climbed up many of the trees and killed them (lack or light & collapsed canopy) whilst in between these festooned poles, a carped of Cat's claw acts as a ground cover with no other species present. Scary. It is currently in bloom with pretty yellow flowers that belie its insidious nature. However, struggling amidst the Cat's claw & where it had not yet penetrated, we discovered the following:
Species name
Common name
Observations
Maclura cochinchinensis
Thorny cockspur
Streblus brunonianus
Whalebone tree
common; flowering
Cryptocarya triplinervis
Three veined laurel
common; some fruiting
Parsonsia straminea
Monkey rope/Silk pod
rampant, groundcover and vine
Grevillea robusta
Silky oak
mature & seedlings
Geitonoplesium cymosum
Scrambling lily
Callistemon salignus
White bottlebrush
some v. large individuals
Casuarina glauca
Swamp oak
Elaeocarpus obovatus
Blueberry ash
unripe fruit; 3-5m diameter trunk
Jagera pseudorhus
Foambark
Malaisia scandens
Burney vine
common; flowering
Alphitonia excelsa
Red ash
some ripe fruit
Lophostemon suaveolens
Swamp box
Cupaniopsis anacardioides
Tuckeroo
Notelaea longifolia
Native olive
long leathery leaf
Ficus coronata
Sandpaper fig
some showing cauliflori i.e. fruit on trunk
Acacia aulacocarpa
Hickory wattle
ripe seeds
Ottochloa gracillima
(native grass)
uncommon
Cupaniopsis parvifolia
Small leaved tuckeroo
Pittosporum revolutum
Hairy pittosporum
Ficus obliqua
Small leaved fig
Glochidion ferdinandi
Cheese tree
unripe fruit
Melaleuca quinquenervia
Paper bark tea tree
Bridelia exaltata
Scrub ironbark
The 'iron' bark is distinctive. 1m diameter. Small-leaved Moreton Bay fig climbing
it.
Clerodendrum tomentosum
Hairy lolly bush
unripe fruit
Morinda jasminoides
Morinda
common; flowering; groundcover & vine.
Crinum pedunculatum
Crinum lily
Eucalyptus tereticornis
Queensland blue gum
Leptospermum brachyandrum
(tea tree or may bush)
flowering
Aphananthe philippinensis
Native elm
Flagellaria indica
Whip vine
Alstonia constricta
Quinine bush
Stephania aculeata
Prickly snake vine
prickly stem
Stephania japonica
Snake vine
Melia azedarach
White cedar
Smilax australis
Barbwire vine
Rhodomyrtus psidioides
Native Guava
Callistemon viminalis
Weeping bottlebrush
Persicaria attenuatum
(smart or knot weed)
Juncus sp.
A rush
Ripogonium album
White supplejack
prickly
Austrosteenisia blackii
Blood vine
Acmena smithii
Lilly pilly
flowering
Other weed species present included;
Macfadyena unguis-cati
Cat's claw creeper
dominant weed
Cinnamomum camphora
Camphor laurel
Schinus terebinthifolia
Broad leaved pepper tree
Baccharis halimifolia
Groundsel bush
a few individuals
Celtis sinensis
Chinese elm
Ipomoea indica
Morning glory
Passiflora subpeltata
White passion flower
Eichhornia crassipes
water hyacinth (noxious weed)
clumps sitting in the swollen river waiting to spread
