The Hills are Alive

Broadcast Friday 8 Nov 2019 at 8:30amFri 8 Nov 2019 at 8:30am

White flowers growing in hilly mountainous countryside — Millie travels to Kosciusko National Park, to explore the unique alpine flora of this iconic Australian landscape

SERIES 30 | Episode 41

Millie travels to Kosciuszko National Park which is a plant-lovers’ paradise in summer.

At 2,228m high, Kosciuszko may not seem like a big mountain on a global scale, but this Great Dividing Range is one of the oldest in the world. The oldest rocks have been dated over 500 million years old, but the real action started with the break-up of the supercontinent Gondwana.

It’s an area where the plants and wildlife have evolved over millions of years to cope with the changing landscape and weather, and many of the plants growing here are found nowhere else in the world.

The Alpine zone sits at 1800m above sea level and is comprised of 6 distinct plant communities:

Herbfields – full of summer flowers are the snow melts
Feldmark - the windswept high ridges and well-drained upper slopes that have consistent snow patches well into summer; one of the harshest environments
Grasslands - where grasses dominate
Bogs - wetlands with taller shrubs
Fens - more open wetlands with shorter herbs and sedges
Heathlands - filled with shrubby species adapted to the well-drained, less rocky conditions.

Plant ecologists Genevieve Wright and Keith McDougall spend much of their summers in the park studying the rare and unusual plants there. You only need to take a couple of paces to be in a completely different environment, with a different set of plants.

FEATURED PLANTS
Sphagnum (Sphagnum cristatum) A moss with no root system that has a huge water-holding ability, helping to keep other plants alive
Alpine sundew (Drosera arcturi) A tiny carnivorous plant growing in an open wetland, the modified hairs have sticky ends that ‘catch’ flies, which are then ‘eaten’ by the plant.
Bladderwort (Utricularia monanthos) Another insectivorous plant, it has a small sac at the base of the tiny purple flower that digests flies that get caught inside.
Carpet heath (Pentachondra pumila) A low mat-forming plant with white tubular flowers and red berries.
Eyebright (Euphrasia alsa) One of the few annual plants in the alps. Most plants are perennial because that is a safer way to reproduce – if seed from an annual doesn’t set and germinate, that plant is lost, so it’s a risk in a harsh climate. To counter this, eyebrights are semi parasitic, borrowing some nutrients from other plants’ roots, to help them establish more quickly.
Pearlwort (Colobanthus affinis) A tiny cup-shaped flower on an upright stem; it is believed that raindrops help pollinate the plant and distribute its seed.
Coral heath (Epacris microphylla) One of the dominant species on the windswept high ridges – it looks like it’s been pruned by a master bonsai artist. The low-growing shrub also creates a great microclimate for other seedlings to grow alongside.
Scaly buttons (Leptorhynchos squamatus) Flat-topped, ‘billy buttons’ style yellow flowers on thin stems that looks too fragile to survive in the harsh Feldmark landscape. The neighbouring epacris protects it while it becomes established.

FEATURED PLANTS

Sphagnum (Sphagnum cristatum)

A moss with no root system that has a huge water-holding ability, helping to keep other plants alive

Alpine sundew (Drosera arcturi)

A tiny carnivorous plant growing in an open wetland, the modified hairs have sticky ends that ‘catch’ flies, which are then ‘eaten’ by the plant.

Bladderwort (Utricularia monanthos)

Another insectivorous plant, it has a small sac at the base of the tiny purple flower that digests flies that get caught inside.

Carpet heath (Pentachondra pumila)

A low mat-forming plant with white tubular flowers and red berries.

Eyebright (Euphrasia alsa)

One of the few annual plants in the alps. Most plants are perennial because that is a safer way to reproduce – if seed from an annual doesn’t set and germinate, that plant is lost, so it’s a risk in a harsh climate. To counter this, eyebrights are semi parasitic, borrowing some nutrients from other plants’ roots, to help them establish more quickly.

Pearlwort (Colobanthus affinis)

A tiny cup-shaped flower on an upright stem; it is believed that raindrops help pollinate the plant and distribute its seed.

Coral heath (Epacris microphylla)

One of the dominant species on the windswept high ridges – it looks like it’s been pruned by a master bonsai artist. The low-growing shrub also creates a great microclimate for other seedlings to grow alongside.

Scaly buttons (Leptorhynchos squamatus)

Flat-topped, ‘billy buttons’ style yellow flowers on thin stems that looks too fragile to survive in the harsh Feldmark landscape. The neighbouring epacris protects it while it becomes established.