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Well that's another informative and telling post made by you. You actually don't have the right to call me a fucking idiot because my beliefs have nothing to do with you so I take that comment as being offensive. Calling Torsten out for tracking down someone that has wronged him financially is another juvenile statement as I can assure you if someone shafts me financially I have and will again use any avenue to track them down and to get my money back. This is the real world. As for the police I deal with them on a regular bases through my business and have done for about ten years but I don't talk to them about any thing other than work does that make me a untrustworthy person. If this association becomes drug based I will be one of the first to the door as I have no interest in being a part of that sort of association. The main reason I am part of this community is the love of plants and I especially am interested in growing ethnobotanical plants and cacti and I want to be able to continue to grow these plants without the government telling me I cant grow something because a few people might be consuming it. If you don't want to be involved in this then I suggest you go and find another thread to troll. Cheers Got

Just recently got back from a research expedition to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. What can I say the place is paradise. Its covered in beautiful simplex trees. The beaches are lined with them. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us travel with the shellite and NaOH so we couldn't sample the goodness within. The results were positive from a burn and smell test though. The trees are big compared to most acacias. They have a thick trunk and grow to at least 12m. Unfortunately we didn't get any pics of the entire tree. Here are some pics of phylodes and seed pods. Here's one for you mycophiles, unidentified fungi growing on a simplex trunk. Another unidentified acacia common on the islands.

I'm finding it difficult to keep track of two threads, and I'm not sure about this comment, I don't like it very much. I have worked with Torsten in the past, and we get on pretty well. You seem to have a very negative aspect of him. I haven't really seen that side of him so I'm not really sure where it comes from, but I think we should all be aware that any official organisation that is a lobby group has to be legally above board in everything that it does, especially in this area. Why Torsten's $s should be suspect sounds a bit like slander to me, besides he has provided other assistance than his small donation and he's been helpful with legal advice. You haven't offered anything apart from slightly incoherent slurs. I don't intend on doing anyone down financially, this is a community driven group of people that we are just trying to help organise. You do realise that an association is not like a business organisation, there are financial rules (i.e. it is non-profit making, it is subject to tax-office scrutiny) and there is community voting when it comes to important decisions. Plus there is talk of local branches which would have some say in what they do. You can try to destroy it if you wish, but the whole point is to try and involve everyone in the community and give them a platform and a say in what is going on around them. You sound a bit paranoid to me, perhaps you would do well getting involved with other people. I half expect you to remove your comment, you have done that several times this thread, it seems a common pattern that you say something highly inappropriate and then have second thoughts. Try to be positive, if you are going to provide constructive criticism about some aspect you don't like, please try and be coherent. We're trying to do this for the community and it's a lot of hard work, so criticism is welcome, I'm happy to discuss, but please try to be pleasant about other people when you do.

you should make one of these

as promised

I don't have any experience with these plants, but I have a feeling that it will send out new shoots from under the dirt. Based on that (which might be wrong though), I wouldn't be very concerned about trying to conserve the stump - I'd make the cut no higher than halfway between the soil-line and the bottom of the rot. I might even cut a bit lower (and on an angle, too). Good luck!

To keep everyone updated I am currently setting up the AEA website. Hopefully you are all able to view it within a month or so! And yeah, all you Queenslanders should convene and get in contact with Whitewind, or if you'd prefer myself, as I think the guys are holidaying for a few weeks.? D00d

Those of us in SEQ or QLD in general who are interested in being involved please contact Big Red or myself so we can get some numbers back to Whitewind. This is about the love of plants, I think from my prospective at least, I hope this evolves into a seed/ plant bank where all plants can be sourced and accessed for the everyday gardener and the scientifically minded alike.

Im a botany student (or was until my university cut botany as a major this year, but I still do mostly plant related subjects in a bachelour of science), which will make me a 'professional' in the future. Id like to help out as much as I can (even if its just with checking references and proof reading or perhaps getting assistance/info from real 'professionals'), but being all the way up in North QLD, it makes it a bit more difficult at the moment. Maybe by the time I finish my degree this will be all up and running and expanding, and I could contribute as a professional. At the moment Im an amateur, but I still have access to scientific literature and could one day be regarded as a professional, so although at the moment things are a bit turbulent (for me personally) Id still like to help out in any way I can, and one day help bring this up north or wherever I end up. This is a cause I strongly believe in, and would like to see it gain momentum and hopefully make a difference, so for now Im happy to help in any way I can, and hopefully one day be able to contribute a lot more.

maybe a sexual favour?

I know these aren't all stapelias but very similar lol. Heres some of my wife's collection in flower today she is a big fan of these, the flowers are pretty amazing. I personally like the Orbeas the best. Stapelia grandiflora all the blooms have just finished Stapelia leedertziae Huernia schneideriana Huernia macrocarpa and a few unknown Huernia Orbea dummeri

I finished carving the four leaf clover that Miss 11 requested. I know four leaf clovers are like father Christmas and the tooth fairy etc... but i remember finding four leaf clovers as a kid, and thinking how great it was. So who am i to take that fantasy away from my kids. If you believe in something enough, then any thing is possible...right..??! Anyway... so the carving isn't as good as i hoped, but i was sort of pushed for time as i wanted to give it to her as a Christmas gift. To me it represents 4 love hearts,lol...a fitting gift for a mother to give a her daughter i reckon. Here is the 'shamrock'. It is roughly the size of a 10 cent bit.

Just warming up for the year... Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year SABers! Micro

I think Merry wants ideas on how to do our own australian life box independently of stamet's plan. Would we need to have a different life box for each state? Simply introducing different state's flora around could prove worse than it is beneficial.

After doubling in size since winter mine is starting to flower

Do you need the association to be a registered company? I would have thought you would be better looking at a registered association as the reporting and I presume the cost would be less. Here is the page for info on incorporating a association in NSW http://www.fairtradi...ssociation.html and this the page with the model constitution for an incorporated association http://www.fairtradi...nstitution.html . It has been some time since I was involved in setting up and running a association but I will try and help in any way that I can. An incorporated association offers some protection to its office bearers and members but this only as far as the following Being incorporated give you some protection but it only runs so deep. For an example I was involved in mountain bike clubs and associations and we obliviously had to have public liability insurance but if I made a reckless decision at a race that caused a accident then I could still be held liable even though I was working for the association. In this case being incorporated wasn't going to protect me and I could be sued along with the association. This will also be true with illegal activities. One other thing that is worth thinking about is making sure the constitution has the objectives of the association written in a way that it is watertight and it can not be hijacked by members that have a different objective. This may sound a bit over the top but it can happen and if the appropriate steps are taken on the establishment of the association then you wont have to worry about in the future. This is a great idea and I am all for putting my name down as a member of an association to protect the plants that we all grow and collect but if this was go off on another tangent then I would have to rethink my position. Cheers Got

Well, for those that are interested.... i have been a bit creative lately. Firstly... I made a pencil holder. Well, technically i didn't 'make' the bamboo pencil holder, i only decorated it. I glued some pictures to some clear glass tiles, and then inlaid them into the box, and viola! I also made some pendants with the same glass tiles. I was thinking I can use the pictured tiles for mosaic too maybe. The pendant colors look a bit washy in the photo, but they are actually quite bright. I have also been doing some Jade carving... I made another mushroom, and turned it into a keyring. I carved a twist pendant. And my favorite carving of all so far ...is a miniature mortar and pestle All these pieces look so much better in real life. My daughter wants me to carve her a four leaf clover...so that is likely to be the next carving.

I urinate regularly on the cacti near it aswell. The bamboo seems to appreciate the ferts also That was bare soil and weeds 2 years ago. except 3 poor looking bamboo. Now

You have a cool garden indeed.

An investigation of different grafting approaches may be quite rewarding and would retain the genetics.

Has anyone tried hybrizing Phleb with something hardier? Is it even possible?

Finally! After waiting a decade,the phleb has decided to offer a few flowers,however just emerging. Now, how long must one wait for the flower maturation? I've been watering it alot this spring and the growth has been decent for only being in the ground for two seasons.It's about 2.5 M tall and building up energy for summer growth. I'll try to get a photo up soon.

Wow,those are some wide phyllodes! She is a nice plant. What are your winters like ED? We have serious rains for 5 months out of the year with alot of nights of freezing temps. I'd love to not have to cover my phleb,but I fear rot due to the high percipitation . Here's my phleb,finally in the ground after 7.5 years.She has really taken off since she's been in the ground. I loosened up the native soil for a few feet deep and added pumice and granite. Patiently awaiting flowers.