Saturday, May 30, 2015

Australia: A Coral Reef on Land (Part 3)

This entry presents still more flowers from our trip around the Lesueur National Park Scenic Drive on September 13, 2015.  If this seems like a lot of blog space for one short drive, I can assure you that a really detailed account of the floral diversity at Lesueur would take far longer.


Everywhere we looked, the Kwongan - the sandplain heath vegetation that covers most of the park - was heavily in bloom.

The road verges were particularly good places to look for flowers, perhaps because there were no bushes to crowd them out. 

Common Smokebush (Conospermum stoechadis)
Common Smokebush (Conospermum stoechadis)
Common Smokebush (Conospermum stoechadis)
 The white tufts in the previous photograph are the flowering heads of one of the smokebushes, presumably Common Smokebush (Conospermum stoechadis).

Granny Bonnets (Isotropis cuneifolia)
Granny Bonnets (Isotropis cuneifolia) were blooming in numbers along the roadside...

Burchardia congesta
... as were the local versions of Milkmaids, in this case Burchardia congesta.

Blue Leschenaultia (Leschenaultia biloba)
The Goodeniaceae added their blue and yellow flowers to the bouquet: Blue Leschenaultia (Leschenaultia biloba)...

Hibbertia sp
and at least two species of Hibbertia.

Clusters of coneflower buds sprouted out of the sand.  This one is probably Golden Conostylis (Conostylis aureus).

Pipe Lily (Johnsonia pubescens)
Pipe Lily (Johnsonia pubescens)
Pipe Lily (Johnsonia pubescens)
Among the coneflowers are the delicate shoots of Pipe Lily (Johnsonia pubescens), a member of the daylily family (Hemerocallidaceae).  They don't look much like lilies (or daylilies, for that matter), and in fact the five species, all confined to the southwest, they have been shuffled about among a number of plant families.

 Pipe Lily (Johnsonia pubescens)
Johnsonia sp
Pipe lilies are peculiar, if beautiful, plants. The most obvious things on their flower heads are not flowers at all, but colorful bracts ranging from white to deep pink. The flowers themselves, which you can see in the middle photograph above, are tiny, and more or less completely concealed by the bracts. Besides, although these plants have leaves, most of the green grassy objects that do the photosynthesizing are  stems modified to take over the true leaves' function.

Pepper and Salt (Philotheca spicata)
Pepper and Salt (Philotheca spicata)  is a shrubby member of the rue family (Rutaceae).  Why it is called Pepper and Salt I have been unable to ascertain.

The small white object that we are all staring at in this photograph is a Posy Triggerplant (Stylidium crossocephalum), and I am trying to demonstrate its trigger mechanism. As so often happens when you are trying to show something to somebody else, the plant refused to cooperate.

Posy Triggerplant (Stylidium crossocephalum)
Posy Triggerplant (Stylidium crossocephalum)
Posy Triggerplant (Stylidium crossocephalum)
Nonetheless, the Posy Triggerplant, even if uncooperative, is still (to my eye) one of the showier members of its family.

As always, there are plants that I can't identify even to family. I am  posting them here in the hope that some future botanist will read this, and come to my rescue.

Geraldton Wax (Chamaelaucium uncinatum) or  Large-flowered Baeckea (Baeckea grandiflora)
As in my previous Lesueur posts, I will end by profiling a single plant family.  The myrtles  (Myrtaceae) form one of the largest and most diverse Australian plant families, even if you ignore (as we will here) the most famous Australian myrtle genus, Eucalyptus.

Geraldton Wax (Chamaelaucium uncinatum) or  Large-flowered Baeckea (Baeckea grandiflora)
 In any case, eucalypts are scarce in the largely treeless Kwongan.   instead, myrtles form a large part of the dense heathland shrub layer.   Many have flowers like these, making them difficult for identification from photographs. This one could be Geraldton Wax (Chamaelaucium uncinatum)  or possibly Large-flowered Baeckea (Baeckea grandiflora).

Murchison Darwinia (Darwinia virescens)
The large genus Darwinia was not named for Charles Darwin, as you might expect, but for his almost equally remarkable grandfather Erasmus (1731-1802).  Accordng to Wikipedia, Erasmus was a physician, natural philosopher, activist against the slave trade  and poet.   His long and rather peculiar poem The Loves of the Plants (1789) treats pollination as though the flowers were characters in a romance novel, and his last poem The Temple of Nature (published after his death in 1803, but long before his grandson wrote The Origin of Species) sets out his own ideas about evolution:

" ...as successive generations bloom
New powers acquire and larger limbs assume;
Whence countless groups of vegetation spring,
And breathing realms of fin and feet and wing."

Anyway, the genus is entirely Australian, and the majority of Darwinias are confined to the southwest.  The red flower clusters creeping along the ground n this photo could be Murchison Darwinia (Darwinia virescens), though by rights that species should be further north, around Geraldton.

One-sided Bottlebrush (Calothamnus quadrifidus
The clawflowers (Calothamnus) are found only in the southwest, but they are common there, and widely planted on roadsides (for good reason; their name means "beautiful shrub").  There are many species; this one is Common Net-bush or One-sided Bottlebrush (Calothamnus quadrifidus), one of the most widespread species in the genus.

Long-leaved Clawflower (Calothamnus longissimus)
 This appears to be the much more localized Long-leaved Clawflower (Calothamnus longissimus), confined to the Kwongan between Geraldton and Perth.

Calytrix cf oldfieldii
Calytrix cf oldfieldii
Calytrix leschenaulti
Like the proteas we looked at last time,  myrtles are very diverse in flower form. You'd have to be a botanist to understand why starflowers (Calytrix) are in the same family as the clawflowers.  There are many species; this appears to be the widespread southwestern species Calytrix leschenaultii.

Calytrix cf oldfieldii
Calytrix leschenaulti
These may be the much more localized Calytrix oldfieldii, though I am far from sure.  not all starflowers are purplish; there are pink, white and yellow-flowering species as well.

Melaleuca urceolarisMelaleuca urceolaris
Melaleuca urceolaris
A number of myrtles, including the eucalypts, have flowers dominated by clusters of colourful stamens.  They include the more than 300 species in the genus Melaleuca, the paperbarks or honey-myrtles.  Outside of Australia the best-known is the Paperbark Tree (M. quinquinerva), which has become a serious invasive pest in southern Florida (and elsewhere).  This appears to be Melaleuca urceolaris, one of the shrubby species.

Violet Eremaea (Eremaea violacea)
There are a number of purple-flowering melaleucas, but I believe this to be Violet Eremaea (Eremaea violacea), a member of a much smaller genus confined to Western Australia.

Sticky Eremaea (Eremaea beaufortioides)
Sticky Eremaea (Eremaea beaufortioides) is a local species confined to the Kwongan country near Lesueur.

Verticordia sp
Verticordia sp
Certainly the most arresting of the myrtles at Lesueur are the featherflowers of the genus Verticordia. There are over 100 species, most of them confined to the southwest, and Lesueur boasts a large and showy assortment.  Their sepals form a colourful fringe just below the petals, a feature responsible for their common name; their overall beauty is surely the inspiration for their Latin name Verticordia, which means "heart turner".

Verticordia sp
Verticordia sp
Identifying the array of featherflowers to species is, with some exceptions, beyond my skills, especially when the flowers (as here) are not fully open.

Verticordia sp
Verticordia sp
Most verticordias are adapted for pollination by bees, though flies, beetles and (for some species) birds are also involved.

Yellow Featherflower (Verticordia chrysantha)
Yellow Featherflower (Verticordia chrysantha)
Here is one that I think I can safely identify: the widespread Yellow Featherflower (Verticordia chrysantha).  There are some even more colourful ones coming in my next post - my final one on our drive through Lesueur National Park - so stay tuned!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Australia: A Coral Reef on Land (Part 2)

We're continuing on our circuit of the Lesueur National Park Scenic Drive, stopping for wildflowers on our way (as we did on September 13, 2015, when these photographs were taken).

Bristly Cottonheads (Conostylis setigera)
The bulk of the wildflower diversity in Kwongan vegetation is concentrated in relatively few plant families, so we continue to encounter representatives of families we have already seen.  Here, for example, is Bristly Cottonheads (Conostylis setigera), another member of the Haemadoraceae, the family I profiled in my last post.

Drumsticks (Dasypogon bromeliifolius)
Drumsticks (Dasypogon bromeliifolius)
This is one of the plants in the endemic Western Australian family Dasypogonaceae: Drumsticks (Dasypogon bromeliifolius), a plant we first saw on our trip the previous week from Perth to Albany.

Creamy Candles (Stackhousia monogyna)
Creamy Candles (Stackhousia monogyna)
We had seen the ivory spikes of Creamy Candles (Stackhousia monogyna) before too, a number of times.

Stackhousia huegelii
Stackhousia huegelii
Now, however, we found it with a relative, the yellow-flowered Stackhousia huegelii, near the northern limit of its coastal range.

Granny Bonnets (Isotropis cuneifolia)
Granny Bonnets (Isotropis cuneifolia)
Granny Bonnets (Isotropis cuneifolia), or whichever pea this is, has flowers that look more handsome from the back than from the front.

Scarlet Runner (Kennedia prostrata)
Another pea, Scarlet Runner (Kennedia prostrata) scrambles over sandy soils in much of the southwest.

Pink-tipped Pearl Flower (Conostephium minus)
Pink-tipped Pearl Flower (Conostephium minus)
This is either Pink-tipped Pearl Flower (Conostephium minus), a Kwongan specialty, or the more widespread Pearl Flower (C. pendulum).  The genus, a member of the heath family (Ericaceae), is endemic to the Australian southwest.  There are about a dozen species.  Pearl flower anthers are tightly enclosed within a tube formed by the petals, and it appears that their pollen can only be released when the flower is shaken by the vibrating wings of certain bees, including bumblebees.  This phenomenon is called buzz pollination; other plants that rely on it include tomatoes, potatoes and blueberries.

Pentaptilon (Pentaptilon careyi)
Pentaptilon (Pentaptilon careyi)
I haved identified this plant as Pentaptilon (Pentaptilon careyi), but according to the Florabase range map Lesueur may be a bit too far south for it.  It probably belongs to the same family, Goodeniaceae (the flowers certainly resemble those of the widespread native buttercups (Hibbertia)), but I am none too sure that I have this one right.

Purple Tassels (Sowerbaea laxifolia)
Purple Tassels (Sowerbaea laxifolia) is common in the southwest, and is, by now, a familiar sight.

Wild Violet (Hybanthus calycinus)
Wild Violet (Hybanthus calycinus)
Wild Violet (Hybanthus calycinus) may look a bit odd to northern-hemisphere violet fanciers, but the Australian genus Hybanthus is a true violet all the same.  At least it is purple; others in the genus are white, yellow or even (recalling a flower I found many years ago in Australia's tropical north) bright orange.

As usual, there are lots of flowers I can't identify.  This is one of them.

Banksia sp
As I did in my first installment on our drive through Lesueur, I want to end by focusing on a particular plant family. In this case it is a particular favorite of mine, the Proteaceae, a Gondwanaland relic whose members I have seen  growing wild in Australia, Africa, New Zealand and Chile. The family takes its name from the wonderful African genus Protea, which takes its name in turn from the shape-shifting Greek demigod Proteus. Its members are indeed very variable, though almost all of them are strikingly unusual to a visitor from the Northern Hemisphere. They are heathland plants par excellence, and are among the dominant plant families in the Kwongan.  

Banksia sp
Banksia sp
By far the best-known of Australia's Proteaceae are the Banksias. Banksia is a large and diverse genus, especially that it now includes the dryandras. Their flower heads are almost as distinctive after the blooms fade (they can remain on the plant for months) as they are before, and, as I explained a few years back, have found their way into Australian children's literature.

Firewood Banksia (Banksia menziesii)
Firewood Banksia (Banksia menziesii)
Firewood Banksia (Banksia menziesii) is a large shrub or, if you prefer, small tree (it can reach 7 or even 15 metres in height).  It is common in the Kwongan heathlands.  It gets its name because its wood burns quickly away, leaving a fine ash.  The artist Philippa Nikulinsky has devoted a whole book of paintings to this species alone.

Parrot Bush (Banksia [Dryandra] sessilis)
Parrot Bush (Banksia [Dryandra] sessilis), one of the dryandras, grows across much of the southwest.  Honeyeaters pollinate it, and its seeds are eaten by Long-billed Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) and Australian Ringneck parrots (Barnardius zonarius).

Blueboy (Stirlingia latifolia)
Blueboy (Stirlingia latifolia)
Blueboy (Stirlingia latifolia) looks about as unlike the banksias as you can get, but it is still one of the Proteaceae.  Its stems grow underground, as woody tubers.  Odddly enough, according to Wikipedia, "The common name Blueboy refers to the fact that wall plaster made using sand taken from where S. latifolia occurs turns blue".

Blueboy (Stirlingia latifolia)
Blueboy (Stirlingia latifolia)
Blueboy (Stirlingia latifolia)
 Blueboy has distinctive, fluffy seedheads, and may be even more decorative after it flowers.

Conospermum boreale
We have already met  Conospermum boreale, one of the smokebushes, but I include it again to show how diverse the protea family can be.

Needle-Leaved Petrophile (Petrophile brevifolia)
The globular flower heads of petrophiles and coneflowers are, perphaps, more typical of what we expect protea flower displays to look like.  This is Needle-Leaved Petrophile (Petrophile brevifolia).

Pixie Mops (Petrophile linearis)
Pixie Mops (Petrophile linearis)
Pixie Mops (Petrophile linearis) grows from the Lesueur area southwards.  Its English name, I suppose, is self-explanatory.

Pincushion Coneflower (Isopogon dubius)
Pincushion Coneflower (Isopogon dubius)
Pincushion Coneflower (Isopogon dubius)
Pincushion Coneflower (Isopogon dubius), no doubt named for its spiky leaves, ranges from the Kwongan at Lesueur south to the Jarrah forest south of Perth.

Sickle-leaved Coneflower (Isopogon linearis)
Sickle-leaved Coneflower (Isopogon linearis) is a more localized species, endemic to the Kwongan between Geraldton and Perth.

Spiny Synaphea (Synaphea spinulosa)
The 56 species of Synaphea (some of which we met in earlier posts) look, at first, quite unlike the banksias, coneflowers and their kin, but they are proteas nonetheless.  They are endemic to Western Australia, and are confined almost entirely to the southwest.  Spiny Synaphea (Synaphea spinulosa subsp. spinulosa) (whose spiky leaves do look rather like those of Parrot Bush and Pincushion Coneflower) is the Kwongan form of a widespread southwestern species.

Many-flowered Honeysuckle (Lambertia multiflora)
Many-flowered Honeysuckle (Lambertia multiflora)
Quite different again are the native honeysuckles (Lambertia), proteas despite their common name.  This is Many-flowered Honeysuckle (Lambertia multiflora).

Many-flowered Honeysuckle (Lambertia multiflora)
Many-flowered Honeysuckle (Lambertia multiflora)
Lambertia is a good, if small-scale, example of the floral diversity of Australia's southwest.  There is one species in eastern Australia, the Mountain Devil (L. formosa), which I saw in the Blue Mountains near Sydney.  The other nine species are all found only in the southwest.  That is a story that can be told for many plant genera.  The southwest is harsher country than the east, and, strangely, that may be the reason for its richness of plant life - isolated in tiny pockets, adapting to narrow ecological niches, plants in the west speciated over and over again.  It is evolution at its most flamboyant.