Why Arnold is right at home in the Rosweood scrub

'The Rosewood tree is the prettiest of all the acacia flowers'

A SELF-PROCLAIMED "Brisbane import", Arnold Rieck was drawn to the Rosewood community in 1958 by the love of a local girl, his wife of 57 years, Joyce.

It was here Mr Rieck developed another love interest; the local dry vine forest plants, otherwise known as the Rosewood scrub.

The Rosewood Scrub Arboretum at Peace Park was established in 1994 under the auspices of the Society for Growing Australian Plants (Ipswich Branch), later known as Native Plants Queensland.

"It was Lloyd Bird, an Ipswich miner and self-taught botanist, who suggested to me that I could organise the collecting of seeds and propagation material of Rosewood dry vine forest plants as very little of the Rosewood Scrub remained," Mr Rieck said.

"The arboretum, which is a museum of living plants, would serve as a source of propagating material for the future, as it does today."

Currently, the arboretum is home to 150 species, some classified as rare or endangered. The second of Mr Rieck's conservation projects, Masons Gully, was established in 2000 when he acquired funding through Olympic Landcare to establish a project to honour local Olympians Juanita Feldhahn and Anthony Martin, who competed at the Sydney Olympics.

"At the time Masons Gully was an eyesore and I saw the opportunity to regenerate it," Mr Rieck said.

"I organised local school children to help with the early plantings. Since then a small group of local volunteers meet monthly to plant more species further up the gully and maintain the area. The Rosewood community owes them (volunteers) a debt of gratitude."

Mr Rieck encouraged those who hadn't experienced the bush regeneration area to get out of their car, walk down into the gully and look for local plants in flower, especially his favourite - the Rosewood tree, which flowers in late summer.

"The Rosewood tree is the prettiest of all the acacia flowers," he said.

"The growth of the scrub has been spectacular."

Before taking up the baton as a guardian of Rosewood scrub plants Mr Rieck was a teacher for 38 years, ending up in Rosewood where he established a horticultural class, cultivating the next generation of horticulturalists. A working bee is held the second Saturday of every month at Masons Gully.

Arnold Reick

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Arnold makes walkway project his own

A NEW walkway project has been unveiled in Rosewood in honour of local horticulturalist Arnold Rieck.

The project was announced last month 19 at Rosewood's Peace Park, revealing the signage and proposed path in front of a crowd of almost 100 people.

The walkway will follow the natural gully line linking Mason's Gully at the corner of John St and Walloon Rd to the Rosewood Scrub Arboretum at Peace Park on Matthew St.

The Ipswich City Council has earmarked $60,000 for the project in the 2018-19 budget.

Division 10 councillor David Pahlke conceived the idea to honour the voluntary work of Mr Rieck who was instrumental in establishing and maintaining the two conservation areas over the past 23 years.

"His contribution has been iconic. His love of the Rosewood Scrub and his desire to reforest and plant it is legendary," Cr Pahlke said. "Don't dare touch a Rosewood tree or you will have Arnold to answer to."

Mr Rieck said he was both honoured and humbled to be the path's namesake.

Medicine plants

• Sticky hop bush (Dodaneae viscosa): used as a painkiller - leaves were often chewed to treat toothache.
• Lollybush (Clerodendrum floribundum): a wood decoction use for aches and pains.
• Dogs balls or dysentery plant (Grewia latifolia): the ripe fruits, called jelly-boys were said to be useful for diarrhoea and dysentery.
• Sandpaper fig (Ficus opposita): The milky sap is known to be used to treat ring worm.
• Maiden hair fern (Adiantum aethiopicum): The plant was used in a drink to treat "diseases of the chest".