Photographs
There are more photographs and a more extensive coverage of Victorian plant and animal species in these packages than in any other publication. For many of the plant species there are no other published photographs.
The Flora and Fauna databases have colour photographs of about 95% of animal
(mammal, bird, reptile and frog) species and 70% of the (vascular) plants.
There are usually several photographs for a species showing, for animals, males, females, juveniles and different colour forms or, for plants, flowers, fruit, leaves, bark and so on.
In total there are over 12,000 photographs of about 4100 species.
Descriptions
For each species a simple and concise description has been prepared. As much as possible non-technical language has been used in these descriptions but when this is not practical an on-line glossary is included which can be accessed by simply
highlighting the word then clicking the right mouse-button.
For each plant species the descriptions contain information on the general appearance, flowers (or spores if a fern), fruit, leaves and (often) its preferred environment. Other pieces of information include flowering time, place of origin (if the species is not native), Koorie use (if any) and a variety of other characteristics.
For each animal species the descriptions contain information on general appearance, colours, differences (if any) between males, females and juveniles, size (and weight for mammals), breeding data and habitat.
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| Santalum
murrayanum - Bitter Quandong
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General
Appearance: A semi-parasitic, slender shrub or small
tree, to 4 m tall, with pendulous, dull grey-green foliage and
large, green or dull red, spherical fruits.
Leaves: Narrowly lanceolate, often curved at the tip, to
50 x 5 mm, hairless, arranged in opposite pairs, or sometimes in
threes, along drooping branchlets.
Flowers: Small, pale green or cream, about 2 mm across,
with four, triangular lobes, arranged on slender, drooping and
branched stalks. (Sep
Oct Nov)
Fruit: Spherical, to 3 cm across, initially green then
becoming orange, dull red or red-brown, more or less fleshy and
containing a large, hard, slightly pitted seed to 2 cm across.
Environment: Woodlands of low rainfall areas.
Notes: The flesh of the fruit is very bitter and
unpalatable. The
species is parasitic on the roots of surrounding plants.
Aboriginal Use: The fruit was roasted to remove the
bitterness and make it more palatable to eat.
Other States: NSW SA WA
Commonly Associated Trees: Eucalyptus leptophylla,
Eucalyptus costata subsp. murrayana
Annual Rainfall: 290 to 418 mm
Warmest Temperatures: 31 to 33 °C
Coolest Temperatures: 4 °C
Altitude: 49 to 119 m ASL
Other Scientific Names: Eucarya
murrayana, Fusanus persicarius, Santalum persicarius
Other Common Names: Ming
(Koorie name), Quandong |
| Blue-billed
Duck  
|
General
Appearance: A brown duck, to 49 cm long.
Males - Head, neck and tail black.
Rest of plumage predominantly dark brown.
Female - brown with pale brown edges to the feathers.
Eyes: Brown.
Beak: Bright blue (males while breeding) or dark grey.
Legs: Short with webbed feet.
Dark grey.
Sexes: Dissimilar.
Call: Seldom calls.
Juveniles: Similar to females but paler.
Eggs: Pale green (Sep - Feb).
Nest: A woven bowl of fine twigs and grass-like plants,
close to water and under dense cover, often with a rough roof
created over the top.
Diet: Soft plant material, seeds, algae, small aquatic
invertebrates.
Environment: A variety of wetlands, usually freshwater
and with dense vegetation.
Conservation: [f] Listed under the Victorian Flora and
Fauna Guarantee. [e]
Endangered in Victoria.
Other States: NSW QLD SA WA TAS
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