Plant ID for those looking for a challenge (or maybe not)

[Hallu]

Being back to France and a bit nostalgic about Australia, I've successfully grown some Aussie native plants on my balcony. I managed to have some Sturt Desert Pea flowering in about 4 months (I thought it'd be a lot harder), I have an acacia growing, a callistemon citrinus getting pretty tall for his age (a meter already), some mallee eucalypts trying to make it in this cold environment, and a kangaroo apple plant who already gave me some fruits. Now I'm trying to identify some plants I've encountered in my past bush walks and try to grow them here in France. These are the ones I can't ID yet and I'd love some help, thanks in advance :

1) First up is in the Mallee. This one was found in Little Desert NP :



I thought it looked like a Leptospermum but I'm not sure, now I think it could be a Fringe-myrtle (Calytrix tetragona).

[edit] Definitely Calytrix tetragona

2) This bush was found near Mutawintji NP, I have no clue what it is :



3) This fellow was found near the Katherine Gorge in the Top End :



Looks like a Grevillea, I couldn't tell you what kind though

4) This one is near the summit of Mt Arapiles :



[edit]Micky : Prostanthera rotundifolia

5) These 2 are in Wilsons Prom. The pea is hard, because there are like 4 or 5 types of peas growing there, and the orange color is a bit weird. For the second one I don't know.





6) This one is at Cape Woolamai :



it looks like a Solanum laciniatum (kangaroo apple) but the leaves don't seem right.

[edit]The leaves can vary says Micky, so it should be Solanum laciniatum.

7) These were found on the Ben Lomond plateau in Tasmania :



[edit] Micky : Bellendena montana

This eucalypt was found in the You Yangs, VIC :



I forgot to take the trunk as well, I hope it can still be IDed.

9) This shrub was found at the foot of the Kennedy Ranges, in WA :



[edit]Micky : Solanum Ellipticum

10) These three shrubs from the mallee again, in Hattah Kulkyne :

a)



b)



c)




[edit]Micky : Ajuga australis

11) These 2 guys from Wyperfeld :

a)



[edit]Micky : Glischrocaryon behrii

b)





12) This chap in Warby Range :





Thanks in advance for your help.

[MickyB]

#4 looks like Round Leaf Mint Bush (Prostanthera rotundifolia)

A few of the others look familiar but will need to look up the names

[MickyB]

#7 Bellendena montana (Mountain Rocket) ????
#8 Eucalyptus leucoxylon ????

#11 (a) Glischrocaryon behrii (Golden Pennants)

[MickyB]

Some of the photos aren't clear enough to give a 100% accurate ID.

#1 Common Fringe-myrtle (Calytrix tetragona) ???
#6 could be Solanum aviculare. It is very similar to Solanum laciniatum. The leaves can be variable.
#9 looks like another Solanum. Perhaps S. ellipticum (Potato Bush)
#10 (c) could be Ajuga australis (Austral Bugle)

[Hallu]

1) Yeah I think it is, I can't see it being anything else now.
4) Nice one, I didn't know those mint bushes could be so big.
6) I didn't know the leaves could be so variable, then it must be Solanum laciniatum as Solanum aviculare is more spread on the East Coast and not the Victorian coast.
7) Wow I'd never have guessed it was a Proteaceae. Apparently it's quite an interesting plant.
I think it's an impossible one, too many have pink flowers and I can't remember what the trunk looked like.
9) OK I didn't know those, thank you. They're said to be bush food, so they have it all, with this great foliage and flowers, I'll see if I can find some seeds.
10) OK yeah I'm convinced, definitely looks like Ajuga australis.
11) a) Thanks, I love this golden grass, they're so striking in the mallee.

I've also rescaled the images, some were previously cropped unintentionally.

[Hallu]

I think 10a is melaleuca uncinata, the broom honey-myrtle and 11b a Bursaria spinosa (sweet bursaria). 5b must be Melaleuca armillaris.

[MickyB]

I think 10a is melaleuca uncinata, the broom honey-myrtle

You could be right with this one but I am not 100% convinced. There seems to be too many flowers for such a young/small plant.

11b a Bursaria spinosa (sweet bursaria)

Looks right

5b must be Melaleuca armillaris.

I initially thought Melaleuca. M. armillaris does grow down at the Prom so I think you could be correct.

The pea is hard, because there are like 4 or 5 types of peas growing there

At least 17 types according to this site . 3 in Platylobium genus, 2 in Gompholobium and 12 in Pultenaea.

http://natureshare.org.au/collections/5 ... st?page=17

[MickyB]

Hallu, I think 10B could be a type of Bluebush (Maireana Sp.)

[Hallu]

Yes upon research it defintely looks like the leaves of a Maireana. The most probable seem to be Maireana georgei as although it has golden flowers, upon forming they apparently tend to take this color.

[MicheleK]

I'm a botanist and can comment on a few of the ones with no ID. Note that for a positive confirmation of ID in our line of work we usually need to see specimens as their identification often depends on details not captured in photos and we often need a microscope to examine small parts. It can be a quite a time-comsuming task!

That said, sometimes a photo can be used.

I can only really comment on the Victorian species, and agree with the comments so far, except for 11b). This is not Bursaria, sorry. It is the Common Fringe-myrtle again, Calytrix tetragona. This can have a variable flower colour, from white to pink. It also varies in size, can grow to 2.5 m, depending on soil depth, rainfall etc. 12) is the same species again, but in fruit, though they may look like flowers on first glance.

2) is a species from the Senecio genus, sorry I am not familiar with that part of the world to say more than that.
5) is either Dillwynia glaberimma or sericea, too hard to tell which from the photo. Parrot pea is the common name.

Hope that helps.
cheers,
Michele

[Hallu]

Thanks for the help Michele, it's quite fascinating to see the different shapes Calytrix tetragona can take in the wild... The pink ground cover form was in Little Desert, near the Desert Lodge, the round bushy white flowered form was on the Desert Walk near Wonga Campground (so a more humid area than Little Desert I'd say), and the orange erect form was near Mt Glenrowan in the Warby Range (so frost and snow in winter). After a google search, I saw the orange form on a Mt Buffalo picture : http://www.botany.unimelb.edu.au/buffal ... 20copy.jpg , the flowers are so different from the mallee forms but the white snowball form is clearly the most attractive. I found one in a French nursery, I'll see how it behaves and flowers on my balcony. I wonder whether the form it takes depends on the climate conditions, or if there are simply different subspecies.