Category: Plant of the Month

Tiny Star Pauridia glabella is a perennial tufting herb with yellow flowers. The plant is tiny as the common name suggests and is easy to miss as the flowers close up in dull weather. It is not commonly known at Venus Bay but may be underreported due to its cryptic nature. Keep a look-out for the tiny yellow star flowers in moist areas on sunny days after rain. Read more about Tiny Star Pauridia glabella here (PDF)

Climbing Lignum Muehlenbeckia adpressa is a moderately vigorous climber with thin red-brown stems growing 3-4 metres long. It occurs in Coast Banksia Woodland and along the  coastal dunes from Victoria and Tasmania to Western Australia and is common in most parts of Venus Bay. It tolerates dryness and salt spray, making it a useful climber to cover a fence or retaining wall in coastal regions. Read more about Climbing Lignum Muehlenbeckia adpressa here (PDF)

Common Spike-rush Eleocharis acuta is a semi-aquatic, rhizomatous perennial sedge with single erect stems to 60 cm high, with a purplish leaf sheath at the base. The hollow rounded stems (culms) are topped by a terminal spikelet 5-30 mm long and 3-7 mm wide, flowering from spring to summer. Common Spike-rush is found in swamps and wet areas. At Venus Bay it is common in wet pasture and along the drainage channel along the Venus Bay to Tarwin bike path….

Prickly Couch Zoysia macrantha is a prostrate, mat-forming grass that is an excellent choice for a native coastal lawn that never needs mowing! Read more about Prickly Couch Zoysia macrantha (PDF)

Scaevola hookeri Creeping Fan-flower Creeping Fan-flower Scaevola hookeri is a prostrate, matting herb that roots at the nodes, with softly hairy stems and leaves. The single fan-shaped, one-sided flowers are  white to pale blue with yellow throats from November to March. Coast Fan-flower is found scattered in coastal heathland and woodland but is more commonly found colonising bare moist ground in the alpine areas. At Venus Bay it occurs on the secondary dunes. Creeping Fan-flower is…

Coast Spear-grass Austrostipa flavescens is a fine, tufted grass that flowers from October to December in coastal locations of the southern States, including at Venus Bay. It is salt tolerant and a useful soil binder for sandy soils. Red-browed Finches love to swing on the flower heads while eating the seed. Read more about Coast Spear-grass Austrostipa flavescens here (PDF).

Bracken, or Austral Bracken Pteridium esculentum is a robust native fern with rigidly erect fronds, spreading from a vigorous rhizome or underground stem. Bracken is the most common and widespread fern in eastern Australia, often dominating the understorey in forests and woodlands. It is an aggressive coloniser of disturbed areas and is stimulated by fire. It is naturally occurring in areas of Venus Bay and Tarwin Lower. Read more about Bracken Pteridium esculentum here (PDF)

Although locally common along the fringe of the coastal saltmarsh on Anderson Inlet, Marsh Saltbush is classed as rare in Victoria. It is fire-resistant, drought and salt tolerant and excellent for soil erosion control. Read more about Marsh Saltbush Atriplex paludosa (PDF)

Angled Lobelia Lobelia anceps is a spreading perennial herb that spreads from the nodes, which may grow to 30 cm or form a matted ground cover. It has small pale blue to violet flowers and provides colour to a damp site. Angled Lobelia grows in moist sheltered areas in Venus Bay, Point Smythe and along Anderson Inlet. It grows in a range of vegetation communities but mainly on the edges of water and seepage lines of coastal cliffs. Read more…