Journal of the Australian Native Plants Society Canberra region (Inc)
Field Trip to Orange
By Jeanette Jeffery
Jan, 2025
Orange, NSW, seemed to be a town one drove through on the way to somewhere else. So, when Pat and Warwick Wright suggested a field trip there, the group was very keen.
Field Trips are one of the activities offered by the Society to enjoy Australia’s native bush and improve plant identification skills. No-one is an expert so some plants lead to a discussion, some a closer examination, and some require referral to books and the internet often later in the day over a drink. For others plants, someone may know it and even have it in their garden or tried to grow it. And of course there are plants we never confidently identify. Beginners are always welcome and photographers too.
Mt Canobolas/ Gaanha bula was the star attraction on this trip. It is the tallest mountain west of the Blue Mountains so stands out amongst the orchards and vines. The mountain sides were painted orange and white — Mirbelia oxyloboides, Calytrix tetragona interspersed with Kunzea parviflora and Dodonaea boroniifolia.
This area experienced a fire in early 2018 and regrowth is thriving and visitor facilities updated. The summit of Mt Canobolas is 1397m and receives snowfalls and about 1/3 more rain than the surrounding area. This State Recreation Area (SRA) hosts some sub-alpine flora — Eucalyptus pauciflora, E. canobolensis, mature Acacia melanoxylon, Scleranthus biflorus, Pimelia ligustrina and grasses in the open areas. It holds several threatened species. Prostanthera gilesii is known from 2 sites in the area, Pultenaea westonii grows only here to around Bathurst. We also slowly walked through the Xanthoparmelia lichen community which only grows here.
To experience shrubby, woodland wildflowers we walked the Nature Track, a 2km loop with a side trip to Young Man Canobola for some of us. Flowering brightly were Daviesia latifolia, Bulbine bulbosa, Pultenaea westonii and Craspedia variailis. Orchids in flower were Caladenia cucullata, Chiloglottis valida, Diurus sulphurea and Thelymitra pauciflora. The variety of Eucalypts was appreciated.
Pat and Warwick knew the owners of ‘Tormaline Park’, a grazing property which has been transformed over 10 years to become a significant local garden in the Open Gardens scheme. The owners, Pam and Ross Montgomery, showed us around the extensive garden which was terraced and planted almost exclusively with Australian natives. Ross propagates many of his plants, prunes them regularly and likes to try out cultivars which appeal to him.
Other areas around Orange visited were:
- The Borenore Caves withinthe Borenore Karst Conservation Reserve, revealing some interesting geology
- Burrendong Botanic Garden and Arboretum
- Orange Botanic Garden. This had a well-designed display garden on Australian grasses. They had Prostanthera gilesii, a threatened species from the area, for purchase at their plant sale.
This was a lovely trip among friends. Orange is certainly worth a stopover.
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