WHILE early winter usually means some scarcity of native flowers in the bush, there was still lots to see when the Native Plants Queensland Ipswich Branch walked through the Purga Nature Reserve, recently.

“This Reserve is home to the critically endangered Swamp Tea Tree (Melaleuca irbyana),” reports Branch member, Heather Knowles.

“The 140 ha block was purchased by Ipswich City Council in 1997 for the purpose of conserving this endangered ecosystem.

“The Reserve is dominated by clay soils which drain poorly and is often waterlogged after heavy rain.”

An ideal growing ground for the critically endangered tree known best by its common name, Swamp Tea-tree.

“An information board close to the start of the boardwalk has trail maps and information about the Reserve,” Heather continued.

“We started our walk along the boardwalk and wound our way along several of the marked walking tracks, discussing the many species of plants we discovered.”

Some of the more interesting specimens they encountered were Eremophila debilis (winter apple) which has edible fruit, Chrysocephalum apiculatum (Billy Buttons) with its small yellow flowers, a number of large, old Eucalyptus tereticornis (Blue Gum) about to flower and which support a transient population of koalas, and various lichen and fungi species on tree trunks and fallen dead branches.

“An interesting find was a plant of Solanum ellipticum (potato bush), a small prostrate shrub with fruit resembling small tomatoes,” Heather said.

“The water level was low in the small pond at present due to the lack of recent rain. It is home to native rushes and other water plants and a number of frog species.

“It was a pleasant place to sit on the provided seating and discuss our plant finding from the day.”