UNDERGROUND LOVERS By Alison Pouloit
‘In the gloom of the forest floor, fallen branches are sheathed with fungal stripes of yellow and purple. But beneath the floral surface, the fallen litter is alive with the clandestine workings of fungi*.
What can we learn from the lives of fungi? Underground Lovers brings us to our knees, magnifier in hand, to find out. Fungi offer a way to imagine life differently. In Underground Lovers Alison Pouliot reaches down to earth, and deeper, to dwell with fungal allies and aliens, discover how fungi hold forests together, and why humans are deeply entwined with these subterrain. Told through first-hand stories – from the Australian desert
to Iceland’s glaciers to America’s Cascade Mountains – Alison Pouliot shares encounters with glowing ghost
fungi and unearths the enigma of the lobster mushroom. Melding science and personal reflection, she explores the fungi that appear after fire, how fungi … Read the rest
Category: Book Review
Where the Slime Mould Creeps: Sarah Lloyd OAM Fourth Edition
NEW BOOK OF INTEREST:
Where the slime mould creeps introduces the fascinating world of myxomycetes, the acellular slime moulds. It describes their intriguing life cycle and important ecological roles as decomposers, nutrient recyclers and food for numerous invertebrates. It reveals their exquisite evocative forms through microscope and camera, along with time lapse images that capture the dramatic changes in colour and shape as the fruiting bodies mature. The past ten years has seen a burgeoning interest in slime moulds, with photographers, students and other enthusiasts captivated by their singular beauty. With more people looking, we now know how ubiquitous and common they are. This popular and informative book—now in its fourth edition—is a lavishly illustrated photographic guide to their identification, and an account of a passion for slime moulds that has led to the discovery of a wealth of species living in a tall wet eucalypt forest in central north … Read the rest
Book News
There’s quite a bit happening with new books. We still have copies of our reprint of Ian McCann’s wildflower book available to members at $10 plus postage if needed.
Also available at various local stores is an excellent new fold-out leaflet by Joy O’Brien, “Wildflowers of the Grampians: A Guide to Common and Notable Species” which has photos of 111 local flowers with a great deal of information on flower and leaf characteristics, flowering time and more.
And FOGG member Judy has sent in a review of the book I have recently written and published with Anthea Nicholls of Pomonal Publishing.
Book Review: “Grampians to Gariwerd” written by Margo Sietsma, publ. 2020. (Available through the author, and at Halls Gap News Agency and Pomonal store)
This is an interesting collation of diary entries from early trips to a family holiday house in Halls Gap in 1986. The author has added … Read the rest
Ian McCann book news
I am very pleased to report that “Grampians Wildflowers” is now available and we are very happy with it. David and Bruce Welsch have done an excellent job in scanning the original photos, choosing the paper etc, Neil and Wendy Marriott have updated the Botanical information (which is in an appendix with the original name still under each photo), Andy McCann has contributed a tribute to Ian, and together with VNPA I have reworded the preface. The FOGG name now appears on the spine. FOGGS have so far received one box of books and are awaiting another delivery. When we have that, the committee will decide how best to use our copies, so watch for that next issue. In the meantime it is already for sale in Halls Gap for $20.
… Read the rest
Book Review: Gariwerd – An Environmental History Of The Grampians
“Gariwerd” is a new book from CSIRO Publishing, written by Benjamin Wilkie, an area local from just outside Hamilton.
The author has certainly done reams of research in the archives for this.
The text is packed with information, from the geological formation of the mountains, significance to the indigenous people, the coming of white explorers, settlement and the introduction of feral animals. It continues through to the declaration of the Grampians National Park, controversy over indigenous place names, and ongoing management. The Acclimatisation Society has a lot to answer for with the introduction of hares, foxes, deer and even pigs. He also discusses the impacts and damage done by cattle and sheep grazing too.
Our group even gets a mention in that we added Gariwerd to our name and maintained that change, despite the Kennet Government’s reversal of the use of indigenous names after the process was gazetted and approved … Read the rest
Grasslands: Biodiversity Of South-Eastern Australia App – Free App 2012
Australia’s native grasslands are some of our most critically endangered ecosystems, home to many endangered fauna and flora species. A new, free comprehensive field guide app for iPhone and iPad, Grasslands: Biodiversity of South-Eastern Australia, is now available. It introduces users to, and aims to build an appreciation of, the unique biodiversity of south-eastern Australia’s temperate native grasslands.
It is a collaboration between the University of Melbourne team that published Land of sweeping plains: Managing and restoring the native grasslands of south-eastern Australia and Ecolinc, a Department of Education and Training Specialist Science Centre focusing on environmental science curriculum programs for P–12 students and teachers.
For more information contact Associate Professor Nicholas (Nick) Williams, Urban Ecology and Urban Horticulture, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne via email: .… Read the rest
Book News
There’s quite a bit happening with new books. Progress is continuing with our reprint of Ian McCann’s wildflower book. David Welch is very soon getting a full colour-proof, so he can check each page, before the final printing. However even if it is OK to go, it will still take about 2-3 months before it gets printed and shipped to Darwin. So we hope by the end of the year it should be available here.
There are two more books fresh on the market. Available locally is “Best Walks of the Gariwerd/ Grampians National Park”, and available online is “Gariwerd, an environmental history of the Grampians” by Benjamin Wilkie. Would any of you who have ordered it like to review it for our next issue? We would love to have more of your voices in our newsletter.
“Best Walks of the Gariwerd/ Grampians National Park” is by Debra Heyes and … Read the rest
Update on Ian McCann’s Book – “The Grampians in Flower”
It’s pleasing to report that the book is almost ready to go to the printer, so it should be available by the middle of the year. The photos have been scanned and improved, the index gives current names, we’ve added a tribute to Ian, and updated the information on the VNPA and FOGGS. Proofreading is almost complete.
David Welch who has done most of this work has also been hard at work on a few other books which will also be on the market soon. One is on Western Victorian aborigines and several are children’s books. We’ll let you know more when they become available.… Read the rest
March 26 2018 : Bunbury, Bunyips, and Bunjil: the family letters of Capt Richard Hanmer Bunbury of Barton Station
2018 Professor Ian D. Clark, Federation Business School, Federation University Australia, Ballarat
Professor Ian Clark, a Western Victorian local now at Federation University Ballarat, gave us a fact-filled afternoon talk on the 1840 accounts of Capt. R. H. Bunbury of Barton Station, south of Moyston; the origins of the Bunyip as recorded by early settlers in conversation with local Aboriginal people and from Aboriginal ground drawings in Western Victoria. The Bunyip also was a key player in the story of Bunjil and in the interpretation of the painting of Bunjil in the Black Range near Stawell. Bunyips have been recorded from most areas of Victoria, and while all are associated with waterholes or rivers, the descriptions vary considerably: from a giant emu to a fur seal to an extinct Palorchestes (that died out some 40,000 years ago). The best description, however, comes not from verbal accounts but from a depiction … Read the rest
Zumsteins: A Century Of Memories
From a crossing of the Mackenzie River to a popular tourist spot downstream from Lake Wartook.
Compiled by Rod Jenkinson for the Horsham Historical Society.
Book Review by Margo Sietsma
A huge amount of work has been done to produce this 322 page book. It starts with an extensive selection of articles published in all sorts of newspapers, from 1913, through the debate in the 80s on whether the area should become a national park or remain under the Forests Commission , the heated arguments in the 1990s, through fire and floods right up to 2015. These written documents are then followed by many people’s memories, mostly taken from oral interviews with Horsham people who were regular visitors as well as local residents. There’s also a well chosen selection of old photos, together with a sprinkling of recent photos, both of the Zumsteins area and of the wider Grampians area.… Read the rest