Fractalhead

If you have enough, i would like to trade/buy some of those too.

Wow Gem! an ex nursery! way to go!! Feel free to trade with any of the plants at your place of which there are plenty of and not too big. I was delighted to find, upon arriving home at my old house in Perth that my old wormwood i planted from a cutting a couple of years ago the last time i was in perth has grown into a nice sized bush. It is different from the variety at your place, so if you like, i'll send a cutting your way. We're getting our seed collection sent over soon so I'm looking forward to propagating some temperate species... just need a bit of free time. fractal

Perhaps you could ask Gem about the possibility of trading a HBWR or Turbina corymbosa plant(s) for a healthy B caapi plant. She's got a few young seed grown ones to spare i'm guessing. Gem, if you are reading this, I'm suggesting that you keep the caapi for yourself of course. As for the availability of seeds... maybe in the mid year but not for now. Fractal

Hi guys, Yeah I got your emails and i've replied to all the ones i got. as long as you used [email protected] i can't think of any reason why i wouldn't get the email. I'm really sorry for being slow to respond to everyone lately but i've been going through the stressful and time consuming operation of moving house and straight away preparing to go on a six month (minimum) trip down south (beginning with EB). I've just got a laptop now and i need to be online for uni so i'll still be around but may be a bit slower than normal to respond to emails as i may be a week or so between internet access points. I need to adjust to the change and minimize the impact of living without a backyard and without a constant connection to cyberspace. Rev, your caapi is in fine form and has already grown two stems of a metre each and it hasn't even started raining properly yet. I reckon it will really start to fly once the rain starts. Everyone here is spinning out and waiting for the wet season to start but it is very late. I'm worried it will all come at once in the form of a deadly cyclone season. Anyway, I need to choose an appropriate position for it. At the moment most of my plants are in a shadehouse at Gem's place (Big thanks to Gem and her partner for babysitting my little green children while i go down south!!) but i know it won't be long before it is too big to stay in there. I was thinking it might be good to find a permanent place for it. I just removed my big HBWR vines from our old rental property backyard and while I've got a few really good root stocks, i had to cut back sooo much growth from the top to transplant them. Here i am trying to get to the flowering stage in the next few years and every time i move i have to cut my vines back. I think its time to look for an ideal and permanent site for a community ethnobotanical garden where these sort of plants can be left to grow to maturity. I think a lot of us would benefit from another such garden (the other being wandjina) Hmmmm... someone was telling me something about getting grants for projects like that. Anyone know anything about avenues for getting land or the money to buy land for a large community botanical garden and nursery/research centre? It would need to be a permanent place. I hope you people have managed to sort out what you were after. CHeers, Adam.

Hi alchemist, This is great work. Have you tried this technique with any Salvia splendens varieties? I'd be curious to hear the results of that. Adam.

Yeah coin, See now that you've brought this up, I want to make beads out of my old Ocimum sanctum plant. Great idea. I do believe your website would bring more good than harm. Especially if you link it off this site. I'd like to build a webpage myself at some stage but can't seem to find the time. It seems a waste to have one there and not upload it. At least get something up. You can improve it over time if youre not happy with it now. Just a bit of encouragement... Adam.

Convolvulaceous plants (plants in the HBWR/morning glory/bindweed family) put out shoots from low down at the base of the stem regularly and tend to climb up their own stem by winding around and around and up. In woodroses this results eventually in a really chunky woody 'stem' made up of all the stems that have climbed up each other from the base of the plant over the years. The big vine i used to know and love was about 5 years old and its 'stem' was about as thick as my thigh (about 15cm or so). I guess the eventual thickness of a really old vine is only limited by how thick an object the young basal shoots can wrap themselves around without falling down and finding some other direction of growth. They find it easier to wrap around thinner objects like twigs and branches rather than big huge tree trunks and that sort of thing, mostly because they lack the useful tendrils that passionflowers/passionfruit vines have for grabbing onto tiny little 'handles'. Hope i've given you some idea. Oh, and the thickest true single stem i've seen was about 2 or 3 cm thick i think from memory.

Hi guys, I might be able to put all you Psycho{-}tria seekers in touch with a super keen grower up here. He'll post them to you. He sells young plants for about 20-25 dollars i think. They are really healthy plants. He's got about fifty more mature plants (2.5 yrs old) in a small clearing in the bush on his property. It is still pretty shady because the canopy is still in place. They look great. He might even have 'kits' for sale next year if you want to buy those. He gave me half a dozen leaves from which i got about fifty leaf cuttings by cutting them straight up the midrib and then cutting the halves into postage stamp size segments and planting them into a tray of 48 cells. bottom half of each leaf cutting in the soil. Mist regularly with water and kept in a box with glass lid until i can afford a little plastic lid that fits nicely onto the tray. He has inspired me to really 'sow and reep'. We can't have too many of these plants growing in Australia. We need more growers!! The sooner we get crops started, the better. I mean when you look at an exponential growth curve, you realise that every moment you hesitate now, it'll mean a MUCH bigger difference in the future... and the future is when we will need these plants the most. email me or look for fractalhead at EB.

I presume you are interested in Duboisia myoporoides, commonly known as Corkwood, in the family Solanaceae (same as Datura, Brugmansia, Mandrake etc.) It has similar chemistry. Check out the SAB species info page on Duboisia myoporoides (actually, you probably have already). Watch out with this one. It's dangerous like its rellies. Hmmm i just had a look at the species info page and it doesn't have anything about chemistry and pharmacology. I think its main active alkaloids are hyoscine and hyoscyamine. These alkaloids can be very dangerous as the dose-response curve gets steep quick making it easy to overdose and do some serious damage to yourself (such as going blind, or worse). Basically, follow precautions as for Datura. Cheers, Fractal

I presume you are interested in Duboisia myoporoides, commonly known as Corkwood, in the family Solanaceae (same as Datura, Brugmansia, Mandrake etc.) It has similar chemistry. Check out the SAB species info page on Duboisia myoporoides. Watch out with this one. It's dangerous like its rellies. Cheers, Fractal

Hey, that's a good idea Torsten. Maybe I could buy a share too. I'd love to grow a HEAP of these.

Hey, that's a good idea Torsten. Maybe I could buy a share too. I'd love to grow a HEAP of these.

You lucky bugger. Well done. How about some foliage? cuttings? BTW Rev, I just passed my driving test today so I am now mobile. Hang tight for some rare seeds from the Atherton tablelands people.

You lucky bugger. Well done. How about some foliage? cuttings? BTW Rev, I just passed my driving test today so I am now mobile. Hang tight for some rare seeds from the Atherton tablelands people.

I'd love one of those plants in a few months Torsten. Thanks for the letter Reville!! I'm really interested in checking out that Tobacco variety. Geez have I got some collecting to do for you two!! You have both been extremely helpful. My driving test is on Monday so fingers crossed i won't do anything silly to fail it. Then... Atherton Tablelands and BEYOND...

We might be able to provide some of these seeds in the coming season. They are high on our list of priorities and well within reach. Cya Fractal

Yeah... that means we have some Syrian Rue seeds but we want more if possible. Thanks waterdragon. That'd be great. [This message has been edited by Fractalhead (edited 29 October 2001).]

Hi from Cairns everyone, I've finally gotten around to making a rough Haves/Wants list. We are super keen to increase the diversity of our garden, so if any of you have something on our Wants list, please don't hesitate to email us, even if we don't have what you want written on our Haves list because we might be able to work something out anyway. We've got quite a few interesting things that aren't on our Haves list because we haven't identified them to species yet. Also, if you need small quantities of a big range of herbs/veges etc, then it might save you some money to grab a few seeds from each of our packs (you know how they charge you 2 or 3 bucks a pack for WAY too many seeds). We've spent heaps on seeds and they just sit there waiting for someone to grown them. Most of our commonish seeds aren't on the list. Also, if you like collecting Ipomoeas, there are tonnes growing wild around here. I just found a Convolvulaceous vine that looks something like a cross between an Ipomoea and an Argyreia. I'll post pics soon. Anyway... the list... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | **Haves** ====Cacti (Plants) 9 Lophophora williamsii (5 yr old seed grown) 4 Trichocereus pachanoi (4" x 1 ft) 2 T. scopulicolus (4" x 1 ft) 1 T. bridgesii (1 ft high, many branches) 1 Cereus peruvianus 1 Mammillaria schiedweileriana 1 Chiapsis sp. 1 Gymnocalycium damsii plus some other Cereus that we haven't identified yet Cacti (Seeds) Lophophora williamsii Other Plants (Plants) Galbulimima belgraveana (30m high tree) Areca catechu (6m high) Alstonia scholaris (15-20m high) Datura metel Brugmansia candida (peach) B. candida (white) 4 Salvia divinorum (young cutting grown) Desmanthus illinoensis (many young seedlings) Psychotria carthaginensis 10 + Argyreia nervosa (2-3m+ average) Artemesia vulgaris Artemesia absinthum Wild bergamot Peganum harmala (young seedlings) Lotsa gotu kola Granadilla Yellow passionfruit Coffee Pea-tree Sweet leaf Various chilis Various tomatoes Heaps of veges Aristolochia tagale (Attracts giant Cairns birdwing butterfly) Euodia sp. (Attracts Ulysees butterfly) Lemongrass Citronella grass Curry plant Curry leaf Chamomile Sage Salvia splendens Curled Parsley Italian Parsley Anise Liquorice Dandelion Chicory Hibiscus manihot Pineapple Thyme Nasturtiums Marigolds Menthol mint Common mint peppermint spearmint Sweet basil Thai basil Greek basil Sacred Basil (Ocimum sanctum) Bromeliads Air-plants All the weeds around the place and probably more things i've forgotten ====Seeds Areca catechu Alstonia sp. Desmanthus illinoensis Datura metel Papaver somniferum (some red, some white is all I know) Nicotiana tabacum (from EA) Argyreia nervosa Peganum harmala Acacia longifolia Loads and Loads of herb and vegetable seeds from Eden Seeds and Supermarkets ====Plant products Yohimbe . SAB Salvia plain leaf Loads of fresh HBWR seeds There's heaps of Sida around here if you want it. We're waiting for more Salvia 5x Possibly G. belgraveana leaves soon Possibly Tabernaemontana orientalis material soon Spore prints soon | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | || **Wants** Always more Salvia D plants/cuttings Psychotria viridis Corynanthe yohimbe Erythroxylum sp. * Galbulimima belgraveana * (we've found a couple of trees but they haven't fruited yet) Duboisia hopwoodii * Duboisia myoporoides * Catha edulis Ipomoea violaceae (am going to AFSR) Ephedra sp. Datura sp. (going to AFSR) Mandragora sp. Banisteriposis caapi Mitragyna speciosa Salvia 5x Brahmi Hypericum perforatum Peganum harmala seeds Brugmansia sanguinea and more... * These we are trying to source from the wild. [This message has been edited by Fractalhead (edited 29 October 2001).]

I will most definitely be interested rK. I have been especially keen to get the Kaempferia ever since I tried to chew and suck a big hunk of Alpinia rhizome one night in bed and fell asleep with it in my mouth. The next day I couldn't feel anything in my mouth except for what felt like blisters all over the place. I couldn't taste anything for a couple of days. As for psychedelic effects... I concluded I had the wrong Galangal (didn't know an Alpinia from a Kaempferia at the time). BTW, Have you got Kava? I found an ad in the classifieds in Grassroots magazine from someone selling Kava plants here in Cairns. You have to write to them by snail mail to find out more though. I'll do it soon and maybe get a few to trade if anyone's interested. thanks, Fractal

I can sort you out for seed and/or cuttings. I've also got Mugwort, which you might find interesting. I'm keen to trade. If you like, email me at: [email protected] cya Fractal

No worries Torsten. We're going to collect the T. orientalis soon. The hills here are full of Alstonias and other Apocynaceae. If I can score a GPS I can give you exact coordinates. Otherwise, I'll just give rough localities. I just got a telescope for my 21st so I can spot the canopy trees in the hills from my backyard. Does anyone know how much some decent tree climbing gear is?

Hi Rev, Just checked out the seedring page. Exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing a huge list of 3-stars in the 'available' section. I noticed the Argyreia isn't in yet. Do you need some more stock? I'm about to send out samples to a few people, and i can send that other lot i owe you while i'm at it if you like. Maybe I'll do the Sida at the same time. Does anyone know if Sida rhombifolia and acuta (and others) cross pollinate? If so, I won't be able to say whether the seeds will in fact be pure rhombifolia or acuta or whatever because heaps of different species grow together everywhere round here. Also, there is a huge variety of Convolvulaceous plants up here. Are you interested in a range of Ipomoeas, or just proven potent ones like violacea? Also, I've got a pile of Bombax sp. seeds to send you... and I might be able to get some Tabernaemontana orientalis seeds from some trees soon. I've found a huge Alstonia scholaris tree that'll be loaded wiht fruit in Jan-Feb. Anyone had any experience with the Alstonia seeds? anyway, Cya.

No worries Rev. I'd be honoured to see my HBWR strain gettin' around the world. Maybe I should make up a special name for it. There will be heaps of other things i can put into the seed ring as time goes on...

exxcellent Rev, I might be able to help with heaps of Sida species (and genetic varieties within each species) and Argyreia. Eden seeds has Ocimum sanctum and Artemisias. A lot of other stuff i only have my starting lots and am still waiting for seeding. cya Adam.

Hi everyone, Did anyone catch that PMA article that was just on JJJ? Someone just rang up and announced the website address for the Lycaeum on national radio. Was that any of you guys? Good thing or bad thing? i'm still trying to decide. what do you guys reckon? cya Fractal.