amanda_marsh's Favorites

We were shown this species by David Jones, who described it, so the ID is pretty definite! A key feature as I recall is the considerable height of the flowering stem (3rd photo). Growing in an area of grass and bracken on the edge of dry sclerophyll forest.

Single Bird… male, leg tag YO, has been observed over several years, suspect there was a female nesting but didn’t see her. Didn’t want to stay in case we disturbed them. photos taken with long zoom lens. Two observers.

There was wide spread E. consideniana flowering in this area.. Mostly observed in unburnt crowns, but some flowering from epicormic regrowth in heavily burnt trees.
Photo 2 shows fibrous bark on the trunk. (persistent to small branches)
Photo 3 shows juvenile foliage.

Occasional in eucalypt forest at c. 600m elevation. Brought a bit home to key out. It comes to D. rara because the lemma is a tad over 4mm long, and is shorter than both glumes (just), and the culm and node is hairless. This is a first for me. Usually when I key out plants that look like this they turn out to be D. inaequiglumis. It was quite a tall grass, probably about 1m if held upright, and in my experience D. inaequiglumis is more like 30-40cm high, but I don't know if this would be a useful distinction, based on a sample of only a couple of D. rara plants.

On a rhyolite outcrop than burnt at high intensity during the 2019-20 fires. Mature stenostoma on the outcrop were all killed (1st photo, small leaning trees), but some survived in the adjacent forest where the fire was in the groundcover only. Saplings were numerous and are identifiable as this species by their very waxy stems and red new growth. E. sieberi is similar, and present nearby, but it is less waxy. The 4th photo is of the canopy of an unaffected mature tree and the very white waxy buds typical of stenostoma can just be seen developing in it. The 5th photo shows that a couple of epicormic shoots in that tree have exactly the same appearance as the saplings.

F1 of voucher specimen D.Nicolle 1768.

Tall mallee 12 metres tall. Bark smooth throughout, grey, green and yellow. Leaves dull, grey-green. Growing on steep rocky slope with Eucalyptus badjensis and E. olsenii.