Published March 18, 2011

Fancy a trip to a local rural cemetery to see some rare plant species? Local district agronomist Jenene Kidston (NSW I&I), and native grassland enthusiast Christine McRae (Watershed Landcare) are hosting field days at Wollar, Ulan, Tannabutta and Ilford rural cemeteries on Thursday and Friday next week.

Rural cemeteries are proving to be a gold mine as far as biodiversity goes. For some time, local native-plant enthusiasts, including Wollar resident Jim Smith, have been interested in the diverse range of remnant native grasses, herbs, shrubs, trees, and have even identified native fungi, present in our locality based cemeteries. A couple of years ago, Jim instigated a project called "Conserving Native Grasses in Rural Cemeteries" to raise awareness of the value of these areas for their biodiversity and as an education resource. Now partnering in the project are NSW Industry & Investment, Mid-Western Regional Council, Central West CMA and Watershed Landcare.

The grounds of rural cemeteries have not experienced continuous livestock grazing, chemical fertiliser or cultivation since European colonisation and so have a range of plants like orchids, wild sorghum, native legumes and lilies that have long since disappeared from the majority of the landscape.

The field days next week give Jenene and Christine an opportunity to survey what’s growing, and for interested people to tag along for an informal guided botanical tour of native species including grasses, trees, shrubs and herbs that aren’t commonly found elsewhere in the landscape.

Choose one, two or go to all four. Each site visit last for a couple of hours, with time for a picnic break.

Thursday 24th March
    •    Ulan 10am (opposite Ulan Community Centre)
    •    Wollar 2pm (head out of Wollar on Ulan road, cemetery is on left)

Friday 25th March
    •    Tannabutta 10am (20km from Mudgee on Castlereagh Highway heading south)
    •    Ilford 2pm (turn right onto Cafe’s Rd, which is your first right after the Ilford Information bay heading south on the Castlereagh Highway, cemetery is 2km along Cafe’s Rd)

Bring your own snacks/lunch, something to sit on, camera, notepad. Also, bring along any plants you might like identified. If you would like to register for any of these field days, call Jenene Kidston on 0427 401 652 or Thea on 0417 074 673 or head to the Watershed Landcare website to register and download a map.