It is certainly the season for the Northern Leaf-Tailed Gecko (Saltuarius cornutus) at Paluma.
My previous posts during December 2019 have reported the movements of a rather superb specimen at the eastern end of the village between the residences of 13 and 17 Mount Spec Road.
Linda Venn has now contributed a photograph of her resident Gecko, also at the eastern end of the village. Linda reports that this specimen has been sighted regularly at her home over a period of some years. She describes this individual as about 7 to 8 inches in length (or about 20 cm).
Don Battersby says that he has numerous specimens living at this property on Hussey Road. They favour the shed walls and appear nightly to forage for food.
This weird flower is blooming in my garden, in a semi-shaded spot near the letter box. The bat flower is a member of the yam family. Species of Tacca are found in tropical regions of South America, Africa, Australia and South East Asia. Difficult to see in my photo is the cluster of tiny, dark flowers at the centre. The ‘whiskers’ are between 40 cm and 60 cm long.
On Saturday afternoon (28 December 2019) we decided to take a stroll along Paluma’s H-Track. The main impetus for the walk was a tip-off from Jan Cooke that the giant climbing orchid, the ‘Pseudo Vanilla Orchid’ (Pseudovanilla foliata) was in flower along the track. Having never seen this orchid in bloom I was keen to observe and photograph it.
The Pseudo Vanilla Orchid in full bloom.
More information and photographs of this spectacular and unique orchid will appear in a future post by Jamie Oliver.
We started our walk at the eastern end of the H-Track off Lennox Crescent. After some showers of rain in recent days the rainforest appears refreshed and revitalised after the long dry spell. Fungi of several colours, shapes and sizes has sprung from decaying wood along the track.
Brilliant orange fungi growing from decaying wood on the forest floor. Fascinating fungi growing on a tree trunk.
It wasn’t long before we encountered a sizeable red-bellied black snake, actively foraging for food amongst the leaf litter. Upon detecting our presence it appeared quite agitated and retreated into a hole at the base of the buttress roots of a large tree. It immediately reappeared, head first, raised and in defensive mode. We quickly moved on, leaving it to its foraging.
My very blurry and unfocused photo of the red-bellied black snake. I have to admit to being more ‘focused’ on the movements of this snake, than on focusing the camera!
The walking track and surrounding forest floor is littered with numerous fruits and flowers at the present time. We observed the fruit of quandongs (Elaeocarpus sp.) and the brilliant purple fruits of the Paperbark Satinash (Syzygium papyraceum). Many of these fruits showed the distinctive nibble marks of rainforest marsupials and birds.
The bright purple fruits of the Paperbark Satinash.
There are some spectacular trees to see along the H-Track including many large specimens with distinctive buttress roots. There are also some splendid climbing vines weaving their way high into the rainforest canopy.
A stroll along the H-Track is always a pleasure with so much to see and absorb. Take the time for a wander along this short rainforest track and you are sure to be rewarded with many interesting sights, sounds and the wonders of the tropical rainforest. The bird calls alone are worth taking the walk! During our stroll we had the pleasure of listening in on numerous conversations high in the canopy, courtesy of the shrike thrushes, cat birds and whip birds.
Text by Michele Bird, Photos by Michele Bird & Colwyn Campbell.
This young Lily is almost 1 metre tall and boasting a 24 cm heavenly scented bloom. When she matures, she will produce 4-6 flowers on a single stem. Loved by the bees and butterflies, this beauty has won the prestigious ‘Award of Garden Merit ‘of the Royal Horticulture Society in 1993 for best White Oriental Lily ever. Reliable and easy to grow in any moist soil with good drainage. I’m hoping my thumbs stay green enough to bring her to full maturity and be rewarded with multiple blooms every Christmas.
The Northern Leaf-Tailed Gecko of my previous posts (2 December and 17 December) has been conspicuously absent from its usual home (my garage and laundry) over recent days. On Saturday, we discovered why…….
The Gecko has a second home and now resides at Colwyn’s place, two doors down from my home. We are certain it is the same specimen, given its large size of some 20cm or more. Colwyn checked its measurements just to make sure! Its statistics confirm it is very likely to be the same individual. It is now a different colour being a slightly darker shade of grey-brown, compared with the lighter-brown, coppery colour it had at my place. It appears the Gecko has moved on……!
The Gecko at Colwyn’s place with a darker shade of colour.
Have you seen the beautiful Calliandra sp. currently flowering in Linda and Bill Venn’s garden along the eastern end of Mount Spec Road? It’s hard to miss as the shrub is fully laden with pink and white blossoms. The flowers seemed to appear overnight and they opened all at once, making a superb display. The shrub is literally a hive of activity with many bees, both native and exotic species, as well as butterflies busily feeding on the nectar from the blooms. Bill and Linda tell me that the shrub is a miniature variety of Calliandra.
Calliandra, also known by the common name of ‘Powder Puff’ is a genus of tropical plants native to South America. They grow and flower best if they are in full sun. Their oblong shaped leaves fold up ‘to sleep’ at night. They thrive in moist, well-drained soil.
The Venn’s Calliandra has flowered just in time for Christmas, with its brilliant candy-coloured flowers . Who needs an ordinary Christmas tree when you can have a Christmas Calliandra!
We are deeply saddened to report the recent passing of Stafford Browne, long-time resident of Hussey Road, Paluma. Stafford, best known to his Paluma friends and family as ‘Staff’ passed away on 11 December 2019. He will be fondly remembered this week at a private ‘Celebration of Life’ in Townsville. Our loving thoughts and sincere condolences are extended to Merle and the family in their great loss.
In an addendum to his recent post on the flowering Elaeocarpus reticulatus (‘Fairy Petticoats’) at Hussey Road, Michael Drew provides an update on some other flowering tree species on the acreage blocks to the west of Paluma Village.
The photograph below shows a fine specimen of Alphitonia petrieiin full bloom. Michael Drew writes:-
“Alphitonia petriei, also known by the common names of Pink Almond, Red Ash or Sarsparilla tree is a pioneer species, often growing where rainforest has been previously felled. It is found in high altitude areas bordering regenerating rainforest. This tree is not to be confused with Alphitonia whitei found on the banks of creeks in coastal areas.
Other trees such as Commersonia bartramia (Brown Kurrajong) or Commersonia fraseri should not be confused with Alphitonia petriei. The Commersonia spp. usually flower after the Alphitonia in this neck of the woods. There is a very big congregation of Commersonia bartramia out in the ‘Republic of Hussey Road’.
PS: The ‘Fairy Petticoats’ (of the previous post on 6 December) have been shed in the last week causing a thick layer of cast-off petals on the ground and in the birds water bowls…….too hot for fairies to wear petticoats at Christmas!”.
Alphitonia petriei in bloom, resembling ‘Paluma snow’!
This is an addendum to my recent post (2 December) on the Northern Leaf-Tailed Gecko (Saltuarius cornutus) and particularly the large specimen which has taken up residence in my garage. I am pleased to report that this fine gecko has been sighted three nights in a row, foraging in the garage, no doubt looking for spiders, bugs and other goodies to eat.
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to take some better photos of my friend (compared with the poorer quality iPhone photos in my previous post). At high resolution this gecko is even more spectacular. Check out the features in the photos below.
Which end is which?? The head is to the left and the similarly shaped leaf-tail is on the right. A master of disguise for predators!A closer view of the broad leaf-tail.
To add to the story of this superb gecko, on Sunday morning I found that during the night it had shed the skin from its entire body and left it on the garage floor. A complete shedding, right down to the end of the toes!
The shedded skin from the Northern Leaf-Tailed Gecko.
I was thinking about it and I have to admit to being slightly envious of the reptilian ability to shed one’s skin. Wouldn’t it be great if after a hard day at work you could just slip your existing skin and start afresh the next day with a brand new, revitalised exterior??!!
The annual Paluma Garden Competition was held in late November this year and the results were announced at the last social of the year (Tropical BBQ on 7th December). Lynn Hyland reports that the event was most successful and she has provided the following feedback:-
“We had four Bunnings staff as the judging panel this year. On Tuesday 26th November the judges walked their little feet off for nearly five hours. I escorted them around the Acreage Gardens and Jamie Oliver did likewise around the Village Gardens. We provided lunch at the Community Hall“.
The Bunnings judging panel for the 2019 Paluma Garden Competition.
“Even though the gardens and lawns were very dry at this time, the judges were most impressed with the gardens of Paluma. They stated that they will be back next year and will stay longer on the job without being so rushed. They took a lot of photos of the gardens and interesting plants. I even got introduced to some new plant names. It was great to have a horticulturist to refer to for information about species. There really are a lot of ‘hidden treasures’ in our Paluma gardens. The ladies really enjoyed the experience and would like to see the gardens of Paluma at an earlier time of the year when the camellias and azaleas are in bloom – maybe after Easter next year“.
“I also had the Memorial Trophy refitted with new ornaments as it was looking a little sad about the gilt work. It now looks smashing. The trophy is now in the custody of the winners”.
The Alison Evans Memorial Trophy for the Paluma Garden Competition.
The Trophy with names of the previous winners of the Paluma Garden Competition.
The overall winner this year and the trophy holder for the 2019 Paluma Garden Competition goes to Glenda and Nick Van Rynswoud. These are truly award winning gardeners having won the competition a total of four times.
Hearty congratulations to all the winners and for contributing to the ongoing success of this Paluma event. Sincere thanks to Bunnings for their ongoing support for our competition, the judging panel from Bunnings and to Lynn and Jamie for volunteering their time to escort the judges around the village and acreage blocks.
The Winners of the 2019 Paluma Garden Competition are:-
Best Residential Garden in the Village: Glenda and Nick Van Rynswoud Memorial Trophy winner. $50
Highly Commended Residential Garden in the Village: Graham and Judith Malpass. $30
Best Commercial Property Garden in the Village: ‘Manali’ Bill and Linda Venn. $50
Best Acreage Garden on the Blocks: Anne Bruyeres. $50
Best Novelty/Unusual Garden: Rainforest Novelty Trail and Garden, Don Battersby. $20
Glenda and Nick’s award winning garden.
Text by Lynn Hyland and Michele Bird. Photos by Michele Bird and Jamie Oliver.
