The February Nature Ramble was attended by Angair members and people from the Australian Plant Society and their friends. We walked from the Angair office to the east side of the Anglesea River.

Anglesea River

It was peak flowering time for the Moonah, Melaleuca lanceolata; the numerous cream bottle-brush flowers were a delight to see.

Moonah

The Anglesea River estuary is an interesting place to see plants which can tolerate both fresh and saline water. One of these plants is the Chaffy Saw-sedge, Gahnia filum, which grows along the bank close to or in the water.

Chaffy Saw-sedge

Scattered through some area was the Grass Daisy, Brachyscome graminea, with its white flowers standing out amongst the green.

Grass Daisy

Another white to pale pink flower we saw was Creeping Brookweed, Samolus repens var. repens, a summer-flowering, creeping trailing perennial.

Creeping Brookweed

Scrambling among the taller plants was the Sea Celery, Apium prostratum var. filiforme. It is in the carrot, parsley, fennel family and its leaves certainly look like parsley.

Sea Celery

A similar plant but with narrower leaves is Annual Celery, Apium annuum.

Annual Celery

It was interesting to see the change that has occurred near the mouth of the river. Where once it was clear, in the past eight years or so the sand has built up and the Sea Rush, Juncus kraussii subsp. australiensis, has spread and formed a monoculture in this area, and it is still spreading as more sand is deposited.

Sea Rush

Christine Morrissey