October 13 Cabbage Tree Palms

Wonderful pockets of ancient plants grow in Far East Gippsland some with ancient roots, family trees that is! - other parts of Victoria too no doubt but here there are many protected pockets of land. This day we rambled through a rare stand of Cabbage-tree palms, Livistona australis, the southern most stand in Australia; its nearest ‘relatives’ are north of Bega ~200km away on the SE coast. It’s common name comes from its edible ‘heart’ or growing tip and was once used as a food source by aboriginal people and early settlers alike.

In summer it produces spikes of cream flowers - I’d love to see those but getting a look might be a bit hard. With trunks reaching a height of up to 30m it is one of the tallest Australian native plants. It is also the only native palm to grow naturally in Victoria and grows here in the few patches of warm temperate rainforest and along sheltered stream banks of the lower Snowy-Brodribb river plain.

Of course all the birds were in the canopy. Lindsay here trying to get just that little bit higher but with little luck.

The reserve is shaded, lush and damp. Warm rainforest right - and you guessed it, Mozzies! And frogs clicking and clonking. 

Incidentally I was reminded of the Cabbage tree hat. I didn’t know what they were whether is wax shake it what. Seems that early settlers wove the hats from the leaves of the Cabbage-tree palms. 

Jasmine Morinda - Gynochthodes jasminoides. The little orange berries are favourites of the Wonga pigeons, Satin Bowerbirds and Olive-backed Orioles. We heard those birds calling all around us. 

Lots of other creepers such as this the Austral Sarsparilla - Smilax australis. This produces clusters of creamy flowers and juicy berries - for the birds and beasts not us beasts though. And the butterflies eat the flowers snd leaves. A veritable smorgasbord in there.

Saw sedge was everywhere. It seems to like the damp. 

Tree ferns competed with other vegetation. This one had 4 trunks. Most unusual.

Fungi, the forests’ best friends, were happily fruiting while their mycelia were hard at work out of sight breaking down decaying vegetation. Clever things.

In patches of sun pretty flowers drew me closer. Sorry no name - yet!





Golden glory. A goodenia- it’s a very big family. 
I travel with these ‘aides de sanity’ always. The Tick-off in case I pick up a hitch hiker and the insect repellent I have everywhere - car, van, bag. Its effective and smells nice as well as being kind to your skin.

After walking through the dankness of the Cabbage tree palms reserve we headed north to walk the Errinundra Saddle rainforest trail - it was a day of visiting remnants of age old rainforests.