Self-guided Drive - Stop 8 - SA

D’Estrees Bay Self-guided Drive - Stop 8 - Sewer Beach Look for the following plants around the car park and as you walk to the beach. Common Boobialla Myoporum insulare Family: Myoporaceae This plant is commonly found in coastal sand dunes. The foliage is fire resistant and the leaf litter minimal. Tammar Wallabies often browse on this shrub, even standing on their hind legs to reach the higher leaves. Coast Daisy-bush Olearia axillaris Family: Compositae This common grey-green, aromatic coastal plant acts as a sand binder. The undersides of the leaves are white and woolly. Strongly scented, inconspicuous flowers appear between February and April and the seeds are dispersed by wind. Kangaroo Island Spyridium Spyridium halmaturinum var. halmaturinum Family: Rhamnaceae Spyridium is from the Greek spyridion, meaning a little basket, alluding to the tiny white flowerheads. The white petals surrounding the flower are actually ‘floral leaves’ designed to attract pollinating insects to the otherwise unappealing flower. Halmaturinum means 'island'. This plant is endemic (found nowhere else) to Kangaroo Island. Slender Honey-myrtle Melaleuca gibbosa Family: Myrtaceae The Slender Honey-myrtle is widespread in both coastal and swampy areas. In late spring and summer the pink or mauve flowers that cluster on the stems look like mini bottlebrushes. Coast Beard-heath Leucopogon parviflorus Family: Epacridaceae This shrub is known locally as ‘native currant’ for the edible white berries it produces in summer. The single seed is surrounded by juicy flesh which many birds find palatable. At fruiting time it is common to see flocks of Silver Gulls hovering above the shrubs, plucking off berries. Dryland Tea-tree Melaleuca lanceolata Family: Myrtaceae In such an exposed site Dryland Tea-trees hug the ground, much reduced in size by the salt-laden winds. On your return drive look out for the same species growing in the form of a large shrub, its canopy dense enough to provide wallabies with effective shelter from the cold, wind and rain. Coast Cushion Bush Leucophyta brownii Family: Compositae The dense, rounded Coast Cushion Bush is often found facing the sea on cliffs and dunes. ‘Leucophyta’ means ‘white leaves’. The tiny leaves that are pressed against the white stem are covered in a mass of white hairs, giving the bush its silvery appearance. Sea Spurge Euphorbia paralias Family: Euphorbiaceae Originating in the Mediterranean region, Sea Spurge has become a weed of coastal sand dunes in Australia. Herbs from the Euphorbia family have a poisonous milky white sap in the stems and leaves, that is a skin irritant. Sticky Goodenia Goodenia varia Family: Goodeniaceae This shrub grows to waist high in mallee and coastal areas and flowers for much of the year. The lime green leaves are round and thick and the new growth is often sticky. ound-leaf Correa Correa backhouseana var. orbicularis Family: Rutaceae This round-leaved subspecies is endemic to Kangaroo Island. The tubular bell-shaped flowers face the ground inthe winter, allowing rain to run off. However, in summer the 'bells' invert to face the sky to allow for easier fertilisation by birds such as honeyeaters as they search for nectar. Drooping Velvet-bush Lasiopetalum schulzenii Family: Sterculiaceae Lasiopetalum means ‘hairy petal’, but on this plant the drooping, heart-shaped leaves are also hairy. This plant grows on a range of soils and is therefore found in many different habitats on Kangaroo Island. Coast Velvet-bush Lasiopetalum discolor Family: Sterculiaceae The dense leaves on this shrub are rusty coloured on their undersides. Pale pink flowers with hairy insides appear from winter to early summer.