(Professor Stephen D. Hopper AC BSc (Hons) PhD Hon DSc FLS FTSE … not Charlie Windsor) I met Steve Hopper over in W.A at the Kwodjet Goorliny Symposium in Albany (Noongar boodja) back in May. He’s the top Australian botanist/ ecologist of his generation with a particular interest in indigenous knowledge systems and conservation as […]
I lost my old dog Looloo this week but it turned out she wasn’t dead but hidden under a large plastic trough. Why she had dug under there or why she didn’t bark to let me find her I don’t know. A dog’s lifespan is short compared to ours while our life span is short […]
Some of the trees I’ve come across in the last month should reset our collective consciousness as to what the ancestors were capable of. The big Gali gurranaa camp at Cumborah should also put to bed the last of the academic theories on bird shit causing Trees in Trees. Botanist and expert in arid zone […]
Gali-birraa = WWWs (whitewood water wells) I’ve been watching the whitewoods a lot lately and checking to see if any are holding water. You can’t speculate about how trees were used pre-colonial times until you have either Indig. cultural memory or you can establish a pattern. It was the same with the TinTs but this […]
Its farmers who are now rediscovering NSW’s enduring CMTs & finding ways to safeguard them. We aren’t getting much help with state Govt. legislation lagging well behind what is required. The only CMTs protected within NSW’s guidelines are the ordinary scarred trees. Ringtrees, TinTs, culturally burnt trees, birthing trees, translocated trees/ shrubs etc – are […]
Just back from Albany W.A and a symposium on the Walking Together project led by Prof. Stephen Hopper & the Menang, Goreng Merningar Elders. The walking together project went for 4 years and was partially sponsored by Lotterywest to explore traditional noongar land management techniques & cultural collaboration. Priscilla, Jen & I spoke (despite my […]
Lets sum up what we know in this blog then look at where we need to go next. Trees in Trees, or TinTs for short, are known as accidental woody epiphytes in the academic world. Accidental epiphytes are plants that grow on trees – like orchids or strangler figs – but don’t feed off […]
The long awaited TinT paper is finally published & Im hoping you can access it by just clicking on the link below – I cant seem to get links to work on my blog – *sigh* -but will try again: BT23053Unusual, human-mediated prevalence of epiphytes in semi-arid New South Wales, Australia J. L. Silcock , J. […]
Ive been running some google searches on mistletoe lately to identify an interesting variety on a Myall tree not far away. Apparently, mistletoe doesn’t kill trees unless they are already doing poorly. Here are 3 excellent sources of info – Mistletoe Breaking the myths (nsw.gov.au) https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/the-misunderstood-magical-mistletoes-of-australia/11505510?utm_campaign=abc_everyday&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_everyday Home > Gardens / CANBR > Plant Information […]
I don’t know the Gomeroi name for water holding trees but am hoping Rhonda Ashby can find out for me as she is the language expert (gamilaraay/ yuwaalaraay/ yuwaalayaay). In the Menang language group of the south western Noongar people in W.A they are called Gnaama Boorna (Gnaama = a hole for water & Boorna […]