Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research

A Virtual Field Trip

Plant Collecting in Western New South Wales

By Andrew Lyne

This page aims to set out the general sorts of things that happen on a botanical field trip. Field trips are organized for a variety of reasons. For example, the trip may be to collect live plants for cultivation and display in the Mallee Section or Rainforest Gully of the Botanic Gardens or to collect a particular sort of plant like Grevillea or Eucalyptus for research purposes. There have been many trips undertaken to many parts of Australia and occasionally overseas. For example, field trips have taken staff to the Kimberly region of Western Australia, Tasmania, western Victoria, the Coral Sea Islands, Macquarie Island, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and many areas close to Canberra collecting living and research material.

Whilst the following is particular to one specific field trip, there are at least two things they all share - new plants to see and very long days!

Western New South Wales

In December 1995 Stuart Donaldson and I spent five days collecting plants in the western and far-western parts of New South Wales. The aim was to collect living material (mainly as seed but also cuttings) from many of the plants that occur in this region for propagation and display at the Australian National Botanic Gardens and herbarium specimens for the Australian National Herbarium at the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research in Canberra. In particular we were keen to collect from many of the annual species of Asteraceae (members of the Daisy family) that occur in this region - hence the December timetable.

Those plant names prefixed with an asterisk (*) are exotic species and are not native to Australia. Whilst we collect exotics to incorporate into the Herbarium, we do not grow exotics at the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Before any field work is undertaken a great deal of pre-trip planning and organizing must be undertaken. Getting together a list of the plant species needing to be collected, organizing the route to be taken, liaising with the necessary land holders as to access permissions and gathering together maps, collecting gear and other field trip equipment all takes a fair amount of time.

Having packed the vehicle on the previous Friday we were able to get away to a reasonably early start. Heading west we were soon in flatter, drier country. We managed to restrain ourselves and did not stop to do any collecting until Roto. Around Roto the country is very flat, the dirt very red and the railway lines very straight. It had been fairly hot and dry and none of the plants here were in a condition suitable for collecting - they were mostly sterile having finished flowering and fruiting.

Not far from Roto on our way to Trida we stopped as there were some interesting plants by the roadside. Here we collected Swainsona burkittii, Westringia rigida, Ptilotus exaltatus var. exaltatus, Ptilotus atriplicifolius var. atriplicifolius, Ptilotus polystachyus var. polystachyus and Rhodanthe floribunda.

A bit further down the road was Acacia homalophylla, Senna artemisioides, Eragrostis setifolia, Ptilotus nobilis and Chloris truncata.

At our last site for the day, some 30 km from Ivanhoe, we collected Flindersia maculosa and Apophyllum anomalum. Flindersia maculosa has wonderfully colourful, spotted bark.

We drove in to Ivanhoe and thought about staying there for the night but as it was still fairly early we decided to push on to Wilcannia. The surrounding countryside was very dry and had been well grazed - we wondered whether there would be any plants to collect.

Arriving at Wilcannia the first things we did upon booking into our hotel were turn on the air conditioner and have a shower. The shower was good but the air conditioner, whilst making all the right noises, failed to make any impression at all upon the heat.

Another warm day was in the making. We left Wilcannia early and were soon out on the Barrier Highway. Not far from town we collected Alectyron oleifolius subsp. canescens, a common tree in this area. This is its' bark. Also here was Acacia aneura, widespread in these parts, and the exotic *Citrullus colocynthis, a close relative of the Watermelon. Other plants in the area included Dissocarpus paradoxus, Abutilon sp., *Salvia verbenacea, Maireana georgei, Calotis erinacea, Sida ammophila, Vittadinia sulcata, Polycalymma stuartii, Pimelea simplex subsp. simplex, Convolvulus erubescens and *Asphodelus fistulosus. Topsoil is still being lost in this area as this photo shows.

The day consisted of us driving along fairly slowly, scanning along the sides of the road for interesting collecting sites. At frequent intervals we would stop and look more closely at the vegetation. Some times we might stop and collect only a single plant, at others we would stop and make many collections. In this way we collected *Nicotiana glauca, Senecio cunninghamii var. serratus, Pterocaulon sphacelatum, Pluchea tetranthera, Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustissima, Portulaca oleracea, Teucrium racemosum, Eremophila sturtii, Ixiolaena chloroleuca, Frankenia connata, Atriplex vesicaria, Philotheca sp. A Scaevola spinescens, *Carrichtera annua, *Psilocaulon tenue, *Verbena sp. Eremophila longifolia, Lavatera plebeia, Zygophyllum eremaeum, Digitaria brownii, Cullen cinereum, Themeda triandra, Pimelea trichostachya, Dichanthium sericeum. Again, we were somewhat depressed by the level of grazing the land was expected to cope with. It was nigh on impossible to find a herb or shrub that had not been grazed.

Just short of Broken Hill we stopped to collect for the last time that day. Collections made included Senna artemisioides subsp. petiolaris, *Malvastrum americanum, Atriplex holocarpa, * Lycium ferocissimum, Amyema preissii, Lysiana exocarpi, Prostanthera striatiflora, Brachyscome ciliaris var. lanuginosa and Gnephosis arachnoidea.

Late that evening we arrived in Broken Hill. Another few hours work saw the days collections pressed and the live plant material sorted and stored. This time the air conditioner worked - it had been a long and very hot day.

Heading north along the Silver City Highway on the way to Fowler's Gap we were soon stopped at our first collecting site for the day - a low rise, dry and rocky, not far from the road. We spent about an hour here, wandering about, and were amazed at what plants were growing there. Amongst the collections we made were Hibiscus sturtii var. grandiflorus, Brachyscome ciliaris var. lanuginosa, Enchylaena tomentosa, Eremophila alternifolia and Ixiolaena tomentosa.

We stopped once or twice more, collecting Cymbopogon ambiguus, Brachyscome heterodonta var. heterodonta, Brachyscome ciliaris, Gnephosis arachnoidea, Atriplex lindleyi and Ixiolaena chloroleuca, but otherwise made good time to Fowler's Gap where we were looking specifically for Eucalyptus gillii, a rare plant. Eucalyptus camaldulensis was the dominant tree along the creek but all around was to be found E. gillii. This is a closer view of a single plant, a view of its bark, and a close view of some mature fruits. Near here we able to collect Swainsona swainsonioides.

After lunch we headed south again and stopped at Mount Pintapah, a northern part of the Barrier Range. This certainly was an impressive place to collect. The mountain only rises to 350 metres but it is high above the surrounding plains. This is view northwards, a view southwards and a view eastwards. The top parts of the mountain had a sparse cover of Acacia tetragonophylla. This is a closer view of Acacia tetragonophylla. Other plants collected here included Cassinia laevis, Isotoma petraea, Anacampseros australiana, Cheilanthes lasiophylla, Abutilon leucopetalum, Pomax umbellata.

Late that afternoon we arrived at Mootwingee National Park. After tea there was just enough light left for us to press our specimens and tend to the cuttings.

Early morning is a great time of day in this part of the world. Here is a view of the creek and of the plain near the camping ground at Mootwingee National Park.

After breakfast we headed up to the ranger's house to talk about the plants we were interested in finding. Apparently it hadn't rained at Mootwingee for 3 years. This provided some explanation for the poor state of the vegetation - the feral goats we had seen earlier provided the rest.

Our collecting at Mootwingee was limited to some plants we found in and near this gorge. Eucalyptus camaldulensis was growing at the mouth of the gorge as were Marsdenia australis, Callitris glaucophylla and Grevillea striata.

Not far out of Mootwingee National Park, on our way back to Broken Hill, we stopped and collected Acacia loderi. This is its' bark. Other plants collected here include Senecio magnificus, Anemocarpa podolepidium, Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustissima, Convolvulus remotus, Stipa nitida, Atriplex lindleyi, Salsola kali, Chenopodium cristatum, Arabidella trisecta, *Xanthium spinosum and *Carrichtera annua.

We continued on to Broken Hill where we stayed long enough to have lunch and refuel the vehicle. The ranger at Mootwingee had given us directions on how to find a stand of Acacia carnei, a rare species that only grows in the far north-western part of New South Wales and north-eastern part of South Australia. We were keen to find this species of Acacia and, sure enough, they were just where the ranger said they would be. There was not a large number of individuals at this locality. Whilst quite a few were dead and some whole plants had succumbed to indiscriminate collecting, there were many healthy mature plants as well as a good number of suckering plants.

Continuing on our way we were surprised when we suddenly came upon a patch of mallee bushland - quite different to the saltbush country we had been driving through. The dominant mallees here were Eucalyptus socialis and E. dumosa. Also here was Chrysocephalum apiculatum and Lomandra leucocephala subsp. robusta. This is another view of C. apiculatum and gives an idea of the habitat. Also here we collected Minuria cunninghamii, Halgania cyanea, Calotis erinacea and Polycalymma stuartii.

With the light fading fast we left this collecting site and made our way to Menindee for the night.

Another early start. The award for "Best Pie Shop" of the trip went to the bakery in Jerilderie where we stopped for lunch.

At Urana, not far from Jerilderie, we stopped to examine a fairly ordinary looking paddock. Here, amongst the grazing cows and cow droppings, was the rare Swainsona murrayana. Calocephalus sonderi, Pycnosorus chrysanthus, Eryngium plantagineum, Goodenia heteromera, Lythrum hyssopifolia, Pycnosorus globosus, Wahlenbergia fluminalis and Eryngium rostratum were also amongst the plants growing at this, at first glance uninteresting, site.

Although the day was running out and we were still a long way from home we manged to stop a few more times to make some more collections. These included Ptilotus exalatus var. semilanatus, Teucrium racemosum, Vittadinia cuneata, Brachyscome curvicarpa, Chrysocephalum apiculatum, Dichopogon fimbriatus, *Cirsium vulgare, *Echium plantagineum, Cynodon dactylon and Calocephalus citreus.

By the time we drove in to Wagga Wagga it was well and truly dark. Late that evening we arrived home.

Upon returning to the Herbarium and Gardens, a day was spent loading pressed plants into driers in the Herbarium, getting cuttings and seed to the Nursery and putting away all the field trip gear we had taken with us.

After the pressed herbarium specimens dry it is necessary to then identify them, produce a label with the plants' name, collection locality and other collection details, mount the specimen and label onto a herbarium sheet and file it away in the Herbarium collection. This process takes the greatest amount of time. A five day trip like the one above may actually take a few months to organize and fully finalize!

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Updated by Andrew Lyne

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