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Identification history
| Unidentified | 25 Oct 2020 | StephH |
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A twining herb with bright blue flowers and long thin stems, growing in shade.
10 comments
JackieMiles
wrote:
25 Oct 2020
Twining? As in literally winding its stem around other plants? If so you have me totally stumped. Could it just have got lanky and sprawling because it is in the shade? If not literally twining then I'd say it might be one of the two local Wahlenbergias (multicaulis and planiflora) that have flowers flared right from the base rather than having a tube at the base then flaring towards the top, although the wide separation of the petals doesn't really look too good for that either. I'd need to see a side-on view of the flower showing the sepals, and if any have formed fruits that would be handy. Also a better look at the leaves -opposite or alternate, toothed or not?
StephH
wrote:
26 Oct 2020
Jackie, I went back when it wasn't raining and I could look around and found that this plant is a substantial climber with strong woody stems up to 10 mm thick (see additional photos). It had climbed up into a young angophora and I didn't see that bit as I was pulling fireweed at the time and had my head down!
JackieMiles
wrote:
27 Oct 2020
Right, well that is Billardiera something or other, formerly Sollya, a climber from WA, widely planted as an Australian "native" but quite invasive in the eastern states. I'd be removing it. The leaves are narrower than I am used to, so I'm not going to call it Billardiera heterophylla, which is the one that is commonly naturalised around Tura Beach. It has an elongated green fruit which doesn't look very enticing, but must be spread by birds. I'd never looked at the flower from that angle before!
StephH
wrote:
27 Oct 2020
I wondered about Billardiera. The flowers look right but the leaves don't. It's in a place where I wouldn't have expected to find a planted species, but you never know. If it was planted, it's been there a good while now with no spread that I can see. I'll keep an eye on it, though. Thanks Jackie.
JackieMiles
wrote:
28 Oct 2020
Or it could be in someone else's garden nearby and been spread by birds to your place. B. heterophylla can be quite fast-growing and scramble right over the top of shrubs and up into small trees, but maybe this is a less vigorous species, or less well adapted to conditions here.
StephH
wrote:
28 Oct 2020
Yes, I'll check the neighbours' garden next time I'm there.
I've been meaning to ask you for field guide recommendations I have one or two south coast plant guides but clearly need more. Can you recommend any?
I've been meaning to ask you for field guide recommendations I have one or two south coast plant guides but clearly need more. Can you recommend any?
JackieMiles
wrote:
28 Oct 2020
Costermans for the trees and shrubs, Don and Betty Wood's 3 south coast picture books, Les Robinson's Sydney flora for smaller plants, all good.
StephH
wrote:
28 Oct 2020
Thanks. Got some and will try to get the others, though I've been told that the Woods's are now out of print, sadly.
natureguy
wrote:
28 Mar 2023
I think this might be Billardiera variifolia, but not too familiar with this one
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 26 Oct 2020 01:01 PM Recorded on
- StephH Recorded by
Additional information
- 12 mm diameter Flower dimension
- 1 metre to 5 metres Plant height
- True In flower
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Confirmed by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
