

This will be in the center of the freeway


Spotted Sun orchid
Belvedere Reserve
This is a small heathy woodland reserve of 6 ha. on Frankston Dandenong Road, Seaford (entrances in Centenary St and Ti Tree Cres.) There are approximately 99 indigenous species of plants in this reserve, the dominant species being Silky Tea-tree interspersed with many smaller, pretty, heathland plants like Aotus, Comesperma, Correa, Dillwynnia, Epacris, Hibbertia, Lepidosperma, Pimelea, Ricinocarpus and Xanthorrhoea. This vegetation community is dominated in parts by an overstorey of Rough-barked Manna Gum, putting the EVC somewhere between Silky Tea-tree Heathland, Shrubland and Swamp Gum Woodland, a particular EVC that is poorly represented on the Mornington Peninsula. The community that occurs in the Belvedere area differs markedly from most of the other Rough-barked Manna Gum Woodlands, in that it occurs on siliceous sands and is not as rich in diversity as other plant communities.
In times past the reserve was treated like a tip, with stolen car bodies being burnt on site (as well as burning the bush around it,) building materials and garden and household rubbish being frequently dumped there. All that changed when local residents got together to form a Friends Group and together with Frankston City Council and Work for the Dole participants, spent weeks clearing out many skips full of rubbish, and all of the burnt out car bodies.
The Friends Group that looks after this small reserve have lobbied, successfully so far, for fencing around the reserve, though more is needed to prevent further car-dumping. They continue to weed the reserve and maintain walking paths, closing some rarely used paths off for natural regeneration. Grassy weeds are mostly pulled by hand whilst woody weeds are cut down by handsaw, mulched by council and spread on the paths to prevent erosion. It is one of the few reserves to trial abstinence from any major revegetation, just waiting to see what will come up from soil-stored seed once the weeds are removed. University studies have been carried out here in the past to document the changes occurring after removal of stands of invasive (and non-indigenous to this reserve) Coastal Tea-tree and Coastal Wattle. Fire has been another boon to natural revegetation within the reserve, as long as very careful hand weeding takes place at the same time as the indigenous seeds are growing. Many species have been boosted in numbers this way.
The Friends Group undertook one relocation of indigenous orchids when a small colony of Tiger Orchids was found growing just outside the reserve. Several of the transplanted orchids now survive where they were placed into the reserve.
Further information on the Friends Group can be obtained from Frankston City Council, if you'd like to help out.
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