Hidden Treasures

(by Enid Robertson, AM, Patron of the Friends of Shepherds Hill, 1999-2016)

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The members of the Friends of Shepherds Hill Recreation Park are thrilled that as we have removed olives, boneseed and other nasties, we continue to discover a wonderful collection of little native plants that have been overshadowed and crowded out by the aggressive weeds. These little native plants – understorey plants – may be obvious for only a short period each year and remain dormant below ground for the rest of the time.

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All our locally indigenous plants are important, but some due to their scarcity, are especially so. These are known as plants of conservation significance and are given special ratings to denote their particular conservation status.

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Some plants have already become extinct in our region and we certainly do not want that to happen to any more.

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At one of our earliest working bees, back in November 1999, we discovered by seeking out the source of a beautifully penetrating musk perfume, the pale flax lily Dianella longifolia – an exciting find. This lily has a Vulnerable rating. Since then we have discovered four other populations of this important plant in Shepherds Hill Park. (For a description of this Dianella see our newsletter No 3.)

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Probably our most precious plant is the variable glycine, Glycine tabacina, a scrambling legume with small purple pea shaped flowers. This glycine enjoys hot spots – preferring to grow on north-west facing slopes and at the foot of rocky outcrops that get full sun. It is under constant threat not only from the competition with weeds and being overshadowed by olives but also from trampling feet and bike riders who unthinkingly create new bike tracks through their populations.

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The Friends have plotted a map showing the distribution of the plants of conservation significance that we have already found in Shepherds Hill.

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We soon realised how many special areas we have. It is imperative we care for all of these. Thus far, nineteen (19) species of conservation significance have been identified in the park (as listed in the table below); three of them are native perennial grasses, e.g. red leg grass, Bothriochloa macra, which is threatened. Most of the others are also small plants. Below is a list of those we have found so far during our working bees and exploratory walks. Categories of conservation status codes are listed below in order of decreasing conservation significance.

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• E - Endangered: rare and in danger of becoming extinct in the wild.

• T - Threatened: likely to be either Endangered or Vulnerable but insufficient data for a more precise assessment.

• V - Vulnerable: rare and at risk from potential threats or long term threats which could cause the species to become endangered in the future.

• R - Rare: has a low overall frequency of occurrence (may be locally common with a very restricted distribution or may be scattered sparsely over a wider area). Not currently exposed to significant threats but warrants monitoring and protective measures to prevent reduction of population sizes.

• U - Uncommon: less common species of interest but not rare enough to warrant special protective measures.

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In addition to all these special plants, our own greybox grassy woodland is a ‘plant association’ of high conservation rating. Once widespread on the Adelaide Plains and in the Hills Face Zone, greybox woodland has been either totally cleared or much reduced in area to make way for grazing land, orchards, housing and roads.

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Here in Shepherds Hill we have one of the few remaining stands of ‘old growth’ greybox – original big trees, which have never been cut for timber. They have hollows in old limbs; hollows that are essential to our many hollow-nesting birds such as kookaburras, galahs and rosellas.

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I am sure that as we continue with our working bees more treasures will be revealed.

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For descriptions of Aristida behriana and Bothriochloa macra, I can recommend the book "Grass Identification Manual" by author Joan Gibbs and artist Rochelle Gibbs. This book is a pictorial guide to the recognition of native and exotic grasses in the Northern and Southern Lofty Botanical Regions of South Australia. This easy to follow book was available at the nursery in Belair National Park; I presume it still is. It is also available from the Native Grasses Resource Group. (out of print as at June, 2020)

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