"To muse, to creep, to halt at will, to gaze ... such sweet wayfaring" William Wordsworth
Search This Blog
Spotted gum forest
One of the things I really love about the south coast are the spotted gum forests with the straight spotted timber trunks in lovely contrast to the Burrawangs (cycads) growing in the understory.
The spots on the gums are made by the way the bark falls of in irregular flakes.
They are interesting tree. That is the predominant tree in Daisy Hill Forest. I thought the little pock marks were the spots. I love how they shed the bark and then the trunk turns different colours orange, pink, green and brown.
In the morning we went out to see the radio telescope 20 or so kms out of town. On another wayfaring trip we visited the radio telescope at Parkes but this one is an array of dishes on a long track that can act like one big dish.
We passed through Bakers Swamp without noticing anything. Then reached our last dot on the map for this trip - Larras Lee and saw this. The roadside monument says: In Memory of WILLIAM LEE (1794 - 1870) of "Larras Lake" a pioneer of the sheep and cattle industry and first member for Roxburgh under responsible government (1856 - 1859). This stone was erected by his descendants. --- 1938 --- This is a repost from a few days ago. Thinking I would use this for this week’s Taphophile Tragics post I dug a little further into William Lee’s story, it’s a very colonial Australian one. William was born of convict parents, living his childhood years around the Sydney region. In his early 20s he was issued with some government cattle, recommended as a suitable settler and granted 134 acres at Kelso near Bathurst. He was one of the first in the area and did well. A few years later he was granted a ram and an inc...
Interesting colour variations on the bark Joan .... I'm wondering if those burrawangs are prickly .... They sort of look like they would be.
ReplyDeleteDianne, being cycads their leaves are quite firm, not soft like a fern. I didn't notice but I suspect they are a bit prickly.
ReplyDeleteThey are interesting tree. That is the predominant tree in Daisy Hill Forest. I thought the little pock marks were the spots. I love how they shed the bark and then the trunk turns different colours orange, pink, green and brown.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cycads! You can't find them in the wild here but there are plenty in gardens and parks.
ReplyDelete