The Fragile Web

26/09/2025

This small, male, carnivorous marsupial was found on our driveway yesterday evening. Rigor mortis was not yet present. In fact, his body was still slightly warm. We have found dead males on 2 occasions in recent years and took a specimen to the Discovery Centre (Queensland Museum), where it was identified as the Common Planigale (Planigale maculata). Our understanding is that the males sometimes die in conjunction with the reproductive process, but we haven't confirmed this. Feedback would be welcomed.

23/10/2024

Today we saw two Clearwing Swallowtail butterflies (the male upper, the female lower) and so their cycle begins. The caterpillars feed on a small, slender vine (Aristolochia meridionalis) that scrambles amongst the grass in woodland areas. It is the only host plant in SE Queensland used by this butterfly. If you look closely on one of the photos, there is a small yellow egg, and on another is a caterpillar.

10/10/2024

The Graptophyllum excelsum in our garden is presently a mass of colour. It is easy to see why it is commonly referred to as the Scarlet Fuchsia. It is an Australian native plant, endemic to Queensland, and is described in the book "Rainforest Trees and Shrubs" (Gwen Harden, Bill McDonald, John Williams) as a shrub or small tree to 4m high, found in dry rainforest and vine thickets north from the Gladstone area.

Unfortunately, it is not very common in the wild anymore.

22/09/2024

We had been told about a beautiful flowering tree in Yarraman, so today we decided to see it for ourselves. The tree in question is a Cassia brewsteri or Leichhardt Bean. From a distance, large portions of the tree appear to have a brownish tinge but on closer inspection, you can see that this is the flowers. It is a tree of dry rainforest, more common north of Gympie. Even though it is not in its normal area, it is obviously very happy. Unfortunately, I only had my phone to photograph it, and the breeze added a challenge but, hopefully, you can see what a special tree it is.

13/03/2024

Important work done by Griffith University

03/02/2024

16/10/2022

THE DOG WALK continued. Wandering around amongst other plants and up some small trees is the Dusky Coral Pea (Kennedia rubicunda).

16/10/2022

THE DOG WALK continued. Like many people, we have the annoying Creeping Oxalis (Oxalis corniculata) growing as a w**d in the garden. However, we also have a graceful, native oxalis (Oxalis chnoodes) growing in the paddock.

15/10/2022

We have 3 different species of Burr-daisy on the property. The 2 flowering at the moment are Calotis cuneifolia (colour ranges from white through to purple) and Calotis lappulacea (The Yellow Burr-daisy). As the common name suggests, they are in the Asteraceae (or daisy) family.

14/10/2022

THE DOG WALK continued: Another 2 host plants flowering along the dog walk are the EVERLASTING OR PAPER DAISY, Xerochrysum bracteatum, and YELLOW BUTTONS, Chrysocephalum apiculatum. They are both host plants for the Australian Painted Lady butterfly.

14/10/2022

THE DOG WALK: At least twice a day we walk our dogs around our property, and I have been noticing understory plants coming into flower. Over the next few days, I would like to share some of these, starting with the native passion, Passiflora herbertiana. It is the host plant (that means that it is used as caterpillar food) for the Glasswing Butterfly. There are 3 Australian species of Passiflora (2 of them found in our area) but, unfortunately, there are also many introduced species that have become environmental w**ds.

13/10/2022

As the weather warms up, we are seeing more butterflies. This is the male Orchard Swallowtail, a large butterfly which is common in most gardens. The female lays her eggs on citrus and many Australian native plants in the Rutaceae family (the family to which citrus belongs). Young caterpillars look a bit like bird droppings. The message is this: PLEASE DON'T SPRAY YOUR CITRUS WITH INSECTICIDE.