Onion grass + some cool stickers
As soon as something becomes too ubiquetous, by definition it cannot be considered 'counter-culture'. In counter-culture, new things have to somehow be different to the norm. Old things on the other hand have to appeal to a broader sense of ideology of that time (e.g. a political movement or revolution or such). I write all this as I had an absurd experience at the arts market today, where counter-culture was by far the prevailing culture. The market was in the city, so parking was a nightmare. I took my chances and parked in a 1 hour parking spot despite knowing I would probably be longer.
It took time to notice, but this market definitely appealed to a certain crowd. It really suprised me, the sheer number of people in a certain demographic, that all dress more or less the same, was striking. Of course everyone had their own little quirks, ideosyncratic preferences etc., but still everyone was essentially the same. Observing the crowd, I felt like it was proof that humans are so much influenced by others around them - its our culture. Almost as if everyone was performing learned behaviours, taken and derived from others within that same community. We are truely social animals.
I guess you could say they were all inner-city 'hipsters' or 'hippies' or whatever, but I don't want to put a label on this kind of thing (especially as I could just as easily be labeled as such). From walking around I did notice that 90s/early 2000s fashion is making a comeback. I indulged and bought myself a 2001 UK drum n bass record. I also got some awesome stickers!
The stickers
As you can see a lot of them are ecology themed, with mushrooms, birds and a cool ladybug/moon. 
Definitely check out more of the artists work here: myiicreative
I intend to stick them up at random locations in the burbs'. On lightposts, mailboxes, traffic lights etc. Hopefully they will remind people to appreciate nature around them, or at least liven up the place a little.
In the meanwhile, my car got booked with a parking ticket, $204 dollars! Its honestly criminal. The council is trying to rob me. Yes admittedly, I was in the wrong, but is the punishment proportionate to the crime? $204 for being 40 mins late. That's $5 a minute. It sucks even more when I think about the opportunity cost. I bought four stickers for $15. I would much rather be an absolute baller, and buy $204 worth of stickers (selling out the entire stall) and support a local artist, than gift $204 to the council. The council is just revenue raising with no ethics whatsoever.
But this is not an arts/fashion, nor parking complaints based blog. This is an ecology blog. Back to ecology.
To the park
I was in a grumpy mood after the fine, so I decided it would be good to walk in the nearby park to try and relax again.
Now if you want to know what is the most ubiquitous plant found in Melbourne, Romulea rosea, otherwise known as Onion Grass is certainly up there. Its found almost everywhere, yet hidden in plain site. I noticed it in flower for the first time this year.
I was able to get a good sample of it to show my lady friend. Notice the dark green shoots, pink flowers and the corms (bulbs) hidden underground. The corms do look very much like onion.
There is also an interesting story to tell.
The Onion Grass Story
Stories surrounding weeds often end in doom and gloom. They enter an ecosystem, establish, become sexually mature, and reproduce via mass seed dispersal and/or propagules. This cycle then repeats itself with each new individual. The initial population, once feasible to eradicate, grows unrelentingly, and becomes almost impossible eradicate. This is almost exactly what happened with Onion Grass. Almost...
Enter the Long-billed Corella Cacatua tenuirostris. Like many other birds they suffered from land clearing for agriculture, and urbanisation in our cities and suburbs. Their food source; native grass seeds, Yam Daisies, Orchids, and lillies all gone. Consequently, the Corella population significantly declined.
This was until they learned how to dig up and eat Onion Grass corms! Exactly when this behaviour started, I don't know. But what happend next was remarkable. This behaviour was learned rapidly between individuals and between populations. Now suddenly every Corella knows this trick. And this knowledge continued, from one generation to the next. In fact their whole diet changed drastically, to one that now primarily consists of farmed foods and introduced plant species. They became able to thrive in human-modified ecosystems. According to Australian Geographic they started to make a comeback in the 1950s. Today, they are one of the most prevalent birds in SE Australia. Currently listed as 'Least Concern' on the IUCN red list, with an increasing population trend.
As it turns out, it is not just Corellas. The CSIRO published a 1968 observation of Galahs eating the onion grass corms. A recent 2020 study documented Sulfer-crested cockatoos also eating the corms. This study found that flocks were having feeding sessions together that can last anywhere from 0.5-2.5 hours! Some quotes from the study:
"Even a small flock can consume several thousand plants in a feeding session"
"It was estimated an individual bird can eat up to 200 corms per hour"
"Of the plants removed from the soil, only 6% had intact corms attached."
Given the fact the scientific paper was published in 2020, I assumed this indicated a recent behavioural learning by Cockatoos. Particularly as you read news stories about their intellegence from time to time. Even recently, they discovered populations in Sydney are now able to operate drinking fountains.
Anyway, guess how long sulpher-crested cockatoos have been eating this invasive weed?
For 20 years?
50 years?
No, 1907 was the year when field naturalist T.S. Hall (Thomas Sergeant Hall) recorded flocks of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos digging up and eating the corms. Birds have knowledge systems just like our own. This learned behaviour in cockatoos has existed for at least 118 years (probably more - this is only when humans noticed). From generation to generation. Its part of their culture, what it means to be a cockatoo.
If you want to read up more, Weeds of Melbourne posted a nice history on Romulea rosea.
Culture
Much like our own culture, the Corellas, Sulpher-crested Cockatoos and Galahs have a culture. Part of that culture is digging up and eating onion grass. Consider my culture. Why do I go to art markets in the city? Why do I buy drum n bass records on vinyl? I buy it cos I think its 'cool' (despite the fact Drum n Bass would never have originally been recorded on vinyl).
Its culture.