Triangular Clubrush

Schoenoplectiella mucronata (Schoenoplectus mucronatus, Scirpus mucronatus)
FAMILY: CYPERACEAE
 


This small species of perennial rush can’t be mistaken for any other plant. It has distinctive yellow-green triangular stems, each ornamented in summer with a neat cluster of golden-brown cone-like “clubs” about 2 cm from the stem-tips. (They resemble posies, and look like something that might be carried by a bridesmaid with attitude!)

The plant is worth growing if for no other reason than for use in floral arrangements.

Shown here in a bird bath, it is easily grown in any small container which holds water. It grows rather fast, so a pot of it is best refreshed each spring by having three quarters of the plant, and its rather dense root ball, removed and replaced with fresh soil or potting mix.



In a pond or dam, triangular club-rushes form a low thicket which grows from the water’s edge to the point where the water is too deep for them, which is at approximately 30cm. They will survive deeper water provide it is temporary, such as in a flood.

It also tolerates some drying out (as shown here at Cressbrook Dam) but probably needs good wet soil not far below the surface.



In creeks, it will only grow where there is permanent water, which must be either still or slow-flowing.

Triangular clubrush is a frog-favourite, and particularly useful for small garden ponds in wildlife friendly gardens.


This is one of the few shade-tolerant rushes. It can survive in full shade provided it is well lit (though it does tend to get leggy), and is equally happy in full sun.

It is also frost hardy.

Silver-leafed Ironbark.

Eucalyptus melanophloia
FAMILY: MYRTACEAE

This tree is now in flower at Federation Park in Drayton Connection Road. The photo shows its masses of small, nectar-laden flowers, and its unusual leaf habit.

Unlike most other (and all other local) Australian Eucalyptus species, adult trees have opposite leaves rather than alternate ones. You can see that the leaves are also “sessile” (which means that they have no stems).

This is one of our prettiest local eucalypts, as well as possibly the smallest. It has been known to grow to 20metres high, but in our district we usually see it as a smaller tree, growing no higher than 10 metres.



It is one of the most suitable for gardens. Besides being relatively small, it is a tidy tree, as gumtrees go. Like most ironbarks it is reliable about not dropping large limbs.

Its flowers are rather small, but produce a reliable nectar flow, which makes it a good honey tree.

It has a reputation for being very resistant to the stresses of being used as a cattle camp. Some Eucalypts die younger than they should, unable to cope with many years of soil compaction resulting from heavy use of their root zones by large heavy hoofed animals, and the over-fertilisation of those nice shady areas under trees where stock rest (and excrete) on hot days.



This sturdy tree is ideal for planting in pastures and in paddock-edge planting strips intended as windbreaks or wildlife corridors.

In the wild, it tends to grow on ridges and slopes because it likes at least moderately good drainage. It is happy to grow on most local soil types including black soil, although it doesn’t like the very heavy black soil of the plains.

It is very hardy to drought, and testing has established that it tolerates frost to at least -5°.