Palms of Eungella, Queensland

[Tropicgardener]

I only recently returned from being on 2 weeks holidays a little up the dirt track from here. First stop was the Eungella on the Clarke Range about 80km west of Mackay. This is the home of Livistona sp. Eungella Here are some mature specimens.

[Tropicgardener]

Also occurring there is the much discussed mixture of Archontophoenix alexandrae and Archontophoenix cunninghamiana. Here is a photo of both species intermingled and unlike in cultivation there is absolutely no evidence of hybridisation.

[Tropicgardener]

Archontophoenix seedlings on the rainforest floor. These are a mixture of both A.alexandrae and A.cunninghamiana.

[Tropicgardener]

Calamus australis is the only species of Calamus in the area and is very common both in the subtropical rainforest on the range and in the lower altitude tropical rainforests around Finch Hatton Gorge.

[Tropicgardener]

Some detail of petiole spines on Calamus australis.........Nasty but not as bad as C. radicalis

[Tropicgardener]

Archontophoenix alexandrae with new leaf emerging.

[Tropicgardener]

Freycinetia excelsa was very common in the area and was the dominant species of Freycinetia in Eungella and Finch Hatton Gorge.

[Tropicgardener]

Platycerium bifurcatum (Elkhorn fern) is the only species of Platycerium occurring in Eungella....here is an exceptionally large old plant that is way up in the canopy.

[Tropicgardener]

Besides the gorgeous natural beauty of Eungella and its rainforest, here is another reason people go there........for the chance to have an encounter with a very strange egg laying mammal, the shy and elusive Platypus.

[peachy]

Thanks for posting those Andrew. I've always wanted to go up there for a stickybeak now you have saved me trouble. Our native palms really are lovely I think. Good pic of the platypus too, they are usually to fast to get a photo of. Well done.

Peachy

[Daryl]

Thanks for the photos Andrew...I will get up there one day myself!

Daryl

[markpeters77]

That Platycerium is STUNNING!!! Great habitat pics, thanks

[sarasota alex]

Great pictures!

[Walter John]

that's magic seeing the two archos together.

[Jonathan]

Also occurring there is the much discussed mixture of Archontophoenix alexandrae and Archontophoenix cunninghamiana. Here is a photo of both species intermingled and unlike in cultivation there is absolutely no evidence of hybridisation.

Nice snaps Andrew - where is this shot taken? I'd love to go back there, cause last time I had no idea the two species were growing together...may have walked right past them!

Does anyone know of another location where two Archontophoenix spp grow together? Maybe A. purpurea and alexandrae overlap on the ranges around the Atherton Tablelands?

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Tropicgardener]

Jonathan, basically anywhere along the escarpment I found them growing together. The photos of the mature palms were taken along the walking track from the carpark near Broken River Lodge, the seedlings mixed together were down on the track to the 'Tree Arch'.

[Tyrone]

Thanks for the pics Andrew. Need to get back there again for some palmy R & R. Calamus australis and Freycinetia excelsa are two species I really want to get my hands on one day. I think they'd both do alright with some irrigation here. I didn't go to all the places when we went to Eungella so I never saw one cunninghamiana. The fact they both exist together and don't hybridise has got me intrigued. Were any of the two in flower while you were there? It has to be flowering times that keeps them all apart genetically, because in cultivation, where I would suspect the different climate misaligns flowering times etc they hydridise without an issue.

As for anywhere else that Archo species exist together I can't think of one. A purpurea really has a restricted distribution to 3 mountains in FNQ at above 800m asl approx. Alexandrae could grow at that altitude but I never saw one when I've visited the areas. There's a definite pause in Archo's from the lowlands to the uplands. Not saying they don't exist together in some restricted hard to get too mountain valley or something. Calamus on the other hand grows from sea level to the uplands without a break.

An A alexandrae x purpurea could be an interesting grow, or purpurea x maxima.

Best regards

Tyrone

[chakoro]

I think your right on the money there Tyrone...similar to pychosperma elegans and macarthurii on Cape York.Oh yeah what about A.purpea x A.cunninghamiana? always thought that be nice.

Craig.

[edbrown_III]

Thanks for posting those Andrew. I've always wanted to go up there for a stickybeak now you have saved me trouble. Our native palms really are lovely I think. Good pic of the platypus too, they are usually to fast to get a photo of. Well done.

Peachy

Whats a stickybeak? Inquiring minds want to know

Best regards

Ed

[Tyrone]

Thanks for posting those Andrew. I've always wanted to go up there for a stickybeak now you have saved me trouble. Our native palms really are lovely I think. Good pic of the platypus too, they are usually to fast to get a photo of. Well done.

Peachy

Much better in reality than in pics Peachy. Fill that Fairmont up with fuel and take it for a bit of a drive up to Eungella. It'll be worth it.

My EL Falcon got written off a couple of weeks back. Got myself an 06 AWD Territory with all the fruit now, so it wasn't all bad. When I did one of my QLD trips I drove an 06 Territory so now it feels like I'm going somewhere special all the time. Go on a road trip Peachy, it'll be great fun. Take heaps of platypus shots too.

Best regards

Tyrone

[peachy]

Ed a stickybeak is a nosey person, someone who likes to know things from idle curiosity. Tyrone, if I take Henrietta anywhere it will be Melbourne or Sydney where I can buy nice clothes and nice food that just cant be found here. Being a creature of the concrete jungles, I detest the country and would only have gone to see some palms then hung a screaming U'ie and fled back to civilization. I prefer to admire Andrews pix somehow.

Peachy

[Tropicgardener]

Oh come on Peachy..........you could find a nice 'instant' coffee up there on the mountain!!!

[Tropicgardener]

Thanks for the pics Andrew. Need to get back there again for some palmy R & R. Calamus australis and Freycinetia excelsa are two species I really want to get my hands on one day. I think they'd both do alright with some irrigation here. I didn't go to all the places when we went to Eungella so I never saw one cunninghamiana. The fact they both exist together and don't hybridise has got me intrigued. Were any of the two in flower while you were there? It has to be flowering times that keeps them all apart genetically, because in cultivation, where I would suspect the different climate misaligns flowering times etc they hydridise without an issue.

As for anywhere else that Archo species exist together I can't think of one. A purpurea really has a restricted distribution to 3 mountains in FNQ at above 800m asl approx. Alexandrae could grow at that altitude but I never saw one when I've visited the areas. There's a definite pause in Archo's from the lowlands to the uplands. Not saying they don't exist together in some restricted hard to get too mountain valley or something. Calamus on the other hand grows from sea level to the uplands without a break.

An A alexandrae x purpurea could be an interesting grow, or purpurea x maxima.

Best regards

Tyrone

Bloody Hell Tyrone........you must be blind mate , there are Piccabeens all over the place and some areas they dominate. Next time you are over here and if you get a chance to go to Eungella just go for a walk along the track from the the carpark at Broken River, there are plenty of Piccabeens not far from the track entrance

[Tyrone]

Didn't see one. They were all white underneath the leaf when I saw them at Broken River. All the seed I collected in the area produced Alexanders. I saw the palm labeled there as a Piccabeen and it was an Alex. I must have overlooked the Bangalows there.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Jonathan]

Didn't see one. They were all white underneath the leaf when I saw them at Broken River. All the seed I collected in the area produced Alexanders. I saw the palm labeled there as a Piccabeen and it was an Alex. I must have overlooked the Bangalows there.

Best regards

Tyrone

Same. I thought they were all Alex's at Broken River...probably only because I wasn't looking for Bangalows and its difficult to make out the leaf colour on a tall palm in shadey silhouette from the ground. The few seeds that I got to germinate from Eungella were also all Alex (except 1 Banga from Pease Lookout). When I finally did see the Bangalows at Pease Lookout, they struck me as very distinct from the Alex's, although they were growing in the open rather than under canopy, so looked more compact and leathery.

Cheers,

Jonathan