Queensland's Channel Country#1: landscapes and plants

I've mentioned here before my love affair with south-west Queensland, a vast and varied area which is somehow noticeably 'different' from adjacent NSW and South Australia. An important reason for this is that a large part of it forms the bulk of the bioregion known as the Channel Country for the complex network of braided flood channels that cover the area of some 200,000 square kilometres. All these channels flow away from the sea, mostly ending in waterways such as Cooper Creek, and the Diamantina, Georgina, Thompson, Barcoo and Warburton Rivers, which ultimately flow (occasionally!) as far as Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre in South Australia. Waterholes may be deep and almost permanent in streamlines, or ephemeral after rains.

We can really only get a sense of the complex tapestry of the channel pattern from above; here is an aerial photograph, courtesy of Wikipedia.

 However it's only down on the ground that we can get the detail of the tapestry.

Little Black Cormorants Phalacrocorax sulcirostris massing at Cooper Creek near Windorah.

Early morning on the Barcoo River in Welford National Park.
Here, and in subsequent photos in this series, the dominant waterside
trees are River Red Gums Eucalyptus camaldulensis.

Waterhole on Morney Creek, west of Windorah.

Ephemeral waterholes in the inter-dune swales west of Windorah.

Frances Waterhole, Welford NP.

Sawyer Creek, Welford NP.

Channel Country bioregion, map courtesy Wikipedia. This post focuses on the
Queensland portion of the bioregion, which accounts for most of it.

As in many previous such posts I've got enough material for two posts, so shall do that again rather than turn this post into a marathon. So today some landscapes and plants, next time some animals.

We've looked at some water features - rivers, creeks and waterholes - that are probably the essence of the Channel Country, but there is a true wealth of landscapes in between them. I've already mentioned the River Red Gums that are quintessential to the waterways, and here are a couple of other important Channel Country habitats - arid and semi-arid woodlands, dominated by a few more key tree species, and grassy plains.

Mulga Acacia aneura east of Windorah. This habitat covers some 25% of arid Australia.

Mulga flowers; the long thin phyllodes may vary, but the flower spikes are
distinctive (though not unique to Mulga.)

Gidgee Acacia cambegei and Coolabah Eucalyptus coolabah, growing near Morney Creek,
a hundred or so kilometres west of Windorah.

Gidgee is a favourite of mine, though one of its other names is Stinking Gidgee, suggesting that others are not so keen. It does have a strong odour, especially after rain, but to me it's like vegetable compost and not especially unpleasant. I've camped near many a Gidgee stand, and it's also perhaps the best firewood I know - it's dense and burns hot and slowly, so we use very little in an evening. It tends to grow in dips where water occasionally collects, and near watercourses where it gets overflow water from time to time. Coolabah, which appears often in Australian folklore and song (though I suspect that most of us wouldn't recognise it), has similar requirements, growing by occasionally wet watercourses and out on mostly dry floodplains. 

Flowering Gidgee, Morney Creek.

And just because I can, here are a couple more photos of these trees, River Red Gums at dawn and Gidgee in the evening, at the same site at Morney Creek.

There are also swathes of grassy plains, especially to the west.

Mitchell Grass plains Astrebla spp., Welford NP. There are only four
Mitchell Grass species but between they cover a huge area of cracking clay
plains across dry Australia.

Spinifex Triodia spp., near Farrans Creek 150k west of Windorah.
By contrast with the Mitchell grasses, spinifex grows on sand,
both plains and dunes.

Such dunes can be found rising from the plains in many parts of the Channel Country (and beyond of course) and can be rich red where there is iron present or paler, yellow to almost white.

Morning dune still covered in tracks, west of Windorah.

Vegetated dune (in fact nearly all them are) near Farrans Creek.

Which seems to provide a segue to introduce some other interesting and attractive plants of the Channel Country, though obviously it will be a very random and limited selection! There are no natural barriers between the Channel Country's habitats and the surrounding deserts and arid woodlands, so many of these plants grow widely across arid Australia. Some other trees first.

Ghost Gum Corymbia aparrerinja, west of Windorah.
(Though there is a chance that this is actually Dallachy's Ghost Gum C. dallachiana.
The Atlas of Living Australia suggests that this would be too far south-west,
but the nearby Welford NP Management Plan lists C. dallachiana
as the ghost gum there. I should have looked properly!)

Desert Bloodwood Corymbia terminalis east of Windorah.

Emu Apple Owenia acidula Family Melicaceae, east of Windorah.
In the same family as Red Cedar, this small tree adapted long ago
to a drying Australia and let the rainforests retreat without it. The fruit
is apparently edible, though I've also heard that it's hallucinogenic,
so won't be trying it any time soon. It is found widely in drier
Queensland and Central Australia.

Lolly Bush Clerodendrum floribundum Family Lamiaceae. The 'lolly'
name is for its looks, not edibility. This small tree has a surprising
distribution, growing at the edge of rainforest on the east coast,
and right across the dry tropics. This one was on the edge of a dune
in a sandplain in Welford NP.

Lots of shrubs of course.

Sandhill Wattle Acacia ligulata, Farrans Creek. Found throughout the Channel Country
and indeed most of dry Australia.

Desert Rattlepod Crotalaria eremaea, on a red dune east of Windorah.
This pea shrub is always found on sand, especially dunes, throughout Central
Australia, south-east to the Channel Country.

Green Birdflower Crotalaria cunninghamii, another in this genus, also
closely associated with dunes and sandy deserts. It's one of the most
strikingly unexpected flowers I know.

And another spectacular dune-dweller, Sandhill Grevillea G. stenobotrya,
Welford NP. Found from the Channel Country to the Indian Ocean.

And one of my very favourite Australian plant groups, up there with orchids and banksias, the eremophilas (ie the 'desert lovers') are found in various habitats in the Channel Country and well beyond it. The common names often include emu-bush (for a mistaken belief that their seeds rely on passing through an Emu's digestive tract to germinate) and turkey-bush (probably a reference to bustards, which were often referred to as 'Plains (etc) Turkeys', and possibly for the same reason as 'emu-bush').

Bignonia Emu-bush Eremophila bignoniiflora, west of Windorah. It grows
throughout the Channel Country along water courses and on flood plains.

Harlequin Bush Eremophila duttonii, Welford NP. Very striking when in flower,
found on sandy soils throughout central and south-eastern arid Australia,
and scattered in the Channel Country.

Crimson Turkey-bush Eremophila latrobei, west of Windorah.
Very widespread in inland Australia and a very beautiful flower.

A yellow form of Spotted Emubush Eremophila maculata, east of Windorah.
The species grows across most of the continent, and can have flowers that range from pink
through to red, as well as yellow and even mauve (though I've not seen many of those).
Moreover they may or may not have darker spots in the tube. It is the basis of most
eremophila hybrids sold in nurseries. Below is a more typical red form.

Rose Cottonbush Gossypium australe, west of Windorah. In the hibiscus family,
this lovely shrub is also closely related to cotton and to the very similar
Sturt's Desert Rose G. sturtianum, the Northern Territory floral emblem.

And of course there are many herbs, including a large number of ephemerals that flower following the rains. Daisies feature heavily among these.

Tangled Burr Daisy Calotis erinacea near Windorah, above and below.
A very common and widespread desert burr daisy; see also in the
photo of the dune at Farrans Creek above.

Soft Billy Button Pycnosorus pleiocephalus, a plant of the south-eastern drylands,
here at Morney Creek close to its northern-most distribution.

Large White Sunray Rhodanthe floribunda, also at Morney Creek.

And finally examples of some more very attractive Channel Country herbs, albeit subtly so in some cases, from six different families. All these were growing in the Windorah area.

Flax-leaf Indigo Indigofera linifolia (Family Fabaceae) which is found in a range of habitats
across the deserts and into the tropics, as well well beyond into southern Asian and Africa.
(I don't know how carefully those far-flung populations have been compared; if not it may be
reasonable to suppose that more than one species is involved.)

Poison Morning-glory Ipomoea muelleri, (Family Convolvulaceae) also widespread
in central and northern Australia. The foliage and seeds are said to be toxic to stock,
though Indigenous people from the Kimberley are reported to eat the tubers.

Long Tails Ptilotus polystachyus (Family Amaranthaceae). This genus, widely
known as mulla mullas or pussy tails, is common and often forms extensive swathes
after rain, right across the arid lands.

Small-beard Fanflower Scaevola parvibarbata (Family Goodenicaceae)
is a herb of the eastern inland.

Lifesaver Burr Sida platycalyx (Family Malvaceae) is quaintly named for the shape
of the fruits, which form a torus when completely dry. This genus too is
widely found inland.

Nardoo Marsilea drummondii growing alongside Cooper Creek after flooding.
This herb grows in floodwaters and subsequent muds, the dormant spores having
being triggered by inundation. The spore-bearing bodies, the sporocarps, lie
dormant for decades if need be, awaiting the next flood.

Nardoo played a key role in one of the great Australian folkloric tales of heroic tragedy - the Victorian Exploring Expedition of 1860-61, better known as the Burke and Wills Expedition, which sought to find a route from Melbourne to the north coast. The tale has been told many times and you can easily find the details if you wish. However the essence for our purposes today is that it did end tragically - six of the seven remaining expedition members died on Cooper Creek in the Channel Country on the way back. It was not an inevitable tragedy though, it was very largely due to the ignorance, arrogance and intransigence of their leader, Robert O'Hara Burke.

 

While awaiting rescue on the Creek, the expedition used the abundant nardoo sporocarps as flour and ate lots of freshwater mussels and, we were always told, starved to death. It doesn’t make sense. The local Indigenous people ate both these items, and even showed the Europeans how to prepare them. And in that is the essential clue – because Burke of course could never conceive that a mere native could tell him anything of value.

To cut it short, they died amidst obvious plenty, not of starvation but of beriberi – the symptoms, of leg paralysis, extreme sensitivity to cold and breathlessness, are described perfectly by Wills in his journal. Beriberi is vitamin B1 (ie thiamine) deficiency. By coincidence both the mussels and nardoo spores contain thiaminase, an enzyme which destroys thiamine. Over time the locals had learnt this, doubtless painfully, and had worked out techniques to destroy the thiaminase. They roasted the mussels on the fire; Burke and co ate them raw. The Aboriginals made a watery paste with the nardoo spores - the water neutralises the enzyme - but the explorers made a dry flour with them. 

 

Ah well, perhaps a red herring in today's post, but hopefully of some interest. 

 

The Channel Country's story is much bigger than this one and it is grand and glorious country. If you didn't already know about it, I hope that I may have piqued some interest in you to consider planning a trip out there. Meantime I hope to see you again next time when I will introduce some of the animals of the Channel Country.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY: link here

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Magnificent Mallee #2: some plants of the mallee

Last time, I offered something of a blogging ode to one of my favourite habitats, the wonderful mallee lands of inland semi-arid Australia. If you missed it you might want to look at it for some background before reading this addendum to it, but if you don't feel like doing that then this post can stand alone - it's really just a photo homage to a range of plants other than the mallee eucalypts themselves that I've encountered and enjoyed over the years across the country. I do notice now that plants from Western and South Australia dominate here, but those states do have a lot of the mallee too! To avoid appearing to be showing favouritism (or actually doing so!), I'm going to offer the poster plants below alphabetically in order of Family (though even that's not simple these days). 

The current trend among plant taxonomists is to lump previous Families into sometimes vast 'super-families'. It's not a matter of right of wrong - the actual relationships don't change - but the question of where to draw the lines between related Families is ultimately a human conceit. But enough of that, the important thing is the plant themselves. The plants I've selected were photographed in mallee habitat, and many of them are mallee specialists. In each family there are other - sometimes many other - mallee species I could have chosen.

It's really pretty much just a photo essay to celebrate some rather lovely plants that you may not be familiar with unless you're another mallee meanderer, in which case I hope it brings some good memories.

ANTHERICACAE

One of several families of Australian lilies; I talked more about them in a series beginning here. I see though that that was a decade ago, so things might have changed again, but I don't think very significantly.

Mangles' Fringe Lily Thysanotus manglesianus, Kalbarri NP, near Geraldton, Western Australia.
It grows widely in the south-west, but especially in the mallee.

ASTERACEAE

The familiar daisy family, which no-one has tried to redefine as far as I know!

Invisible Plant (or Wiry Podolepis) Podolepis capillaris Pinkawillinie Conservation Park,
Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. I love this name and, though it's not
terribly invisible here, the threadlike stems and pale flowers can be hard to
see in some lights. I do have another photo that illustrates this, but then you
wouldn't be able to see much! It does have a wide distribution in sandy
soils in southern and central Australia, but I've mostly seen it in mallee.

Poached Egg Daisy Polycalymma (fomerly Myriocephalus) stuartii,
Hattah-Kulkyne NP, north-western Victoria. Another sand-lover, found
widely in the mallee and beyond.

FABACEAE

The peas, one of the most familiar and largest plant families in the world, at least until the recent conglomerations of families.

Cockies' Tongues Templetonia retusa, Dhilba Guuranda–Innes National Park,
Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. This has always been a favourite of mine, partly
because it really is a striking shrub, and partly because it was one of the first
native plant names I learned. It grows in coastal limestone (and in the Flinders
Ranges), much of which is among mallee.

Granny Bonnets Isotropis cuneifolia, Badgingarra National Park,
south-western Australia. Again the species grows in a variety of sandy
and gravelly habitats (especially soon after fires), but this one was in mallee.

Common Eutaxia or Mallee Bush-Pea Eutaxia microphylla, Wyperfeld NP,
north-western Victoria. Mostly found in the mallee

GOODENIACEAE

The goodenia family in eastern Australia is probably best-known for yellow-flowered herbs and shrubs of Goodenia, and the purple-flowered Dampiera. In Western Australia however the various Lechanaultia species are truly dramatic. It's worth noting that in honouring the splendidly named chief botanist on the mighty Baudin scientific expedition to Australia in 1801, Jean-Baptiste Louis-Claude-Theodore Leschenault de la Tour, the great Scottish botanist Robert Brown, normally so meticulous, misspelt his name. Too late though, once it was published.

Blue Lechenaultia L. biloba, Yandin Hill Lookout, north of Perth.
Here it was growing near another WA special, the amazing
Mottlecah mallee E. macrocarpa. See the previous posting for photos of it.

Red Lechenaultia L. formosa, Stirling Ranges NP, south-western WA.

Sandhill Goodenia G. Goodenia willisiana is a much more modest member of
the family, found in mallee in north-western Victoria and adjacent South Australia
and NSW. Here it is in Wyperfeld NP.

Velvet Dampiera V. marifolia, also in Wyperfeld NP.
This striking plant, abundant on a recent spring trip to the area,
has a similar mallee lands distribution to the previous species.

HALORAGACEAE

A relatively small family, mostly in Australia but also has species spread across much of the world, ranging from aquatic herbs to small trees. No species is likely to be familiar to non-specialists, and this lovely mallee herb is the only one I could readily name.

Golden Pennants Glischrocaryon behrii, Pinkawillinie NP, Eyre Peninsula,
South Australia. It is found in mallee from here east to western Victoria
and south-western NSW. It can grow in extensive golden colonies, and
always brings a smile to my face.

 LAMIACEAE

A much more familiar family, including many garden culinary herbs and well-known native shrubs such as Prostanthera and Westringia.

West Coast Mintbush Prostanthera calycina, High Cliffs, at the southern tip
of Eyre Peninsula. A true mallee specialist, it is endemic to Eyre Peninsula,
growing on limestone outcrops.

Stiff Westringia W. rigida, Nullarbor cliffs, South Australia.
Usually on limestone and in mallee, though it also extends to dry forests from
Western Australia to NSW.

MALVACEAE

This is one of the newly defined 'superfamilies' that I mentioned at the start of this post. Already a large family, Malvaceae (based on hibiscuses and hollyhocks) now has a mind-numbing 4200 or so species, after the 1500 or so species of the family Sterculiacae were moved into it. All four species featured here were previously included in that family.

Pink Velvet Bush Lasiopetalum behrii, Caralue Bluff Conservation Park,
Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. It is found in mallee from
Western Australia to south-western NSW.

Coast Velvet Bush Lasiopetalum discolor, Dhilba Guuranda–Innes National Park,
Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. It grows along much of the south coast,
in Western and South Australia, though also in the Bass Strait and northern Tasmania.
On the mainland it is found primarily in mallee, and on dunes.

Paper Flower Thomasia petalocalyx, growing in mallee in the Coorong NP, South Australia.
It is also found in other habitats along the coast and hinterlands in the
south-west and south-east.

Trailing Commersonia Androcalva (formerly Commersonia) tatei,
Heggaton CP, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.
An interesting little plant which is almost endemic to the mallee of Eyre Peninsula
- disqualified only by one totally isolated population in far north-western Victoria.

MIMOSACEAE

Yes, I'm going to break my self-imposed rule by not using the official family taxonomy for this one. A little while ago the wattles (ie family Mimosaceae) were lumped in with the already huge pea family Fabaceae to form a mighty megafamily of almost 20,000 species. While wattles are certainly closely related to peas (look at the pods), they form such an obviously distinct and familiar group that I'm going to be pragmatic and look at them separately from the (other) peas. There are of course very many wattles growing in the mallee; here are just three typical species.

Grey Mulga Acacia brachybotrya, Wyperfeld NP, north-west Victoria.
I'm not sure of the significance of the 'mulga' appellation, it certainly doesn't
resemble 'real' Mulga, Acacia aneura. It is an important part of mallee
communities from the edge of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia
across to Victoria and NSW.

Wallowa Acacia calamifolia, Rudall CP, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.
A distinctive wattle, it is found throughout the mallee lands of South Australia
and Victoria, and beyond into woodlands of NSW. It is said that its seeds are
important food of Mallee Fowl, but I suspect that this could be said of many
other wattles too.

Sandhill Wattle Acacia ligulata, Gawler Ranges NP, South Australia.
(I learnt it as Chainpod Wattle for its constricted seed pods but in retrospect
I think that this was a descriptive name coined by a clever teacher.)
While it is found in all the mallee lands of Australia, it is also found
far to the north, in every mainland state and the Northern Territory.

 MYRTACEAE

A very familiar family, and of course the one to which the mallee eucalypts themselves belong, but we met some of them last time. Here are three others.

Common Fringe-Myrtle Calytrix tetrogona, Dhilba Guuranda–Innes
National Park, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. Another plant which,
while found in most of the mallee lands, also grows well beyond them too.
But, far too attractive to be left out!

Black Teatree Melaleuca lanceolata, growing alongside mallee in Coorong NP,
South Australia. It often grows within the mallee itself, and is especially
common near the coast and inland watercourses.

Woolly Featherflower Verticordia monodelpha, Kalbarri NP, central west coast
of Western Australia. This species isn't found far from Kalbarri. The genus is,
in my opinion at least, one of the most glorious in Australia; indeed 'verticordia'
means 'heart-turner'! It is endemic to the west.

ORCHIDACEAE

Well, anyone who knows me will know that I'm not going to miss a chance to allow some orchids to flaunt themselves, and I'm not going to disappoint you! There isn't the variety of orchids in mallee that we find in moister habitats, but here are some good ones to look for.

Long Golden Club Spider Orchid Caladenia (Arachnorchis) aurulenta,
Yeldulknie Conservation Park, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.
This is a fairly rare species and limited to the northern Eyre Peninsula.
(Of course I could be wrong about this one - there are several quite similar species -
but it seems to meet all the relevant criteria.)

West Wind Spider Orchid Caladenia (Arachnorchis) zephyra, Wanilla Conservation Park,
Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. Apologies for the photo, but it's the only one
I've seen. (Therefore I'm obviously not familiar with it, so again any corrections
would be welcomed.)

Zebra Orchids Caladenia cairnsiana, Stirling Ranges NP.
This is one of the orchids I most look forward to seeing when I go west (not often enough!).
These were growing in mallee but they are also found in a range of habitats.

The same comments about habitat could be made about the Ant or Clown Orchid
Caladenia roei, here in roadside mallee near Hyden, south-west WA.

Tiny Rustyhood Oligochaetochilus pusillus, here in Gawler Ranges NP in South Australia,
is scattered in mallee and open forest across semi-arid southern Austalia.

    

PITTOSPORACEAE

Members of this diverse family, of a couple of hundred species of shrubs, trees and vines, are generally found in moister habitats than the mallee, but one species is very much at home there.

Berrigan or Native Apricot (and many other local names) Pittosporum angustifolium,
Mungo NP, south-western NSW. I am fascinated by its story. Nearly all Pittosporum
species live in east coast rainforest or wet eucalypt forest, but this one adapted as the country
dried out and, instead of retreating with the forests, evolved to the drying conditions.
It is an elegant small tree with weeping foliage found throughout the mallee lands,
and also well beyond to the north.

PROTEACEAE

This is one of the dominant Australian families, an old Gondwanan, found in every Australian habitat. Here is a selection of four, all from different genera (three of them very familiar), which are found in the mallee.

Gland Flower Adenanthos terminalis, Heggaton CP, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.
It belongs to a genus of over 30 species, all but two of which are endemic to WA.
This species is limited to the mallee lands of South Australia and western Victoria.
Like most of the family it is bird-pollinated.

Fox Banksia B. sphaerocarpa Badgingarra NP, south-western WA.
This low shrub grows in deep sand in mallee, heath and woodlands.
Its dull colours and ground-hugging nature (to hide from birds) suggest that
this flower is one of the many pollinated by native mammals.

Candelabra Grevillea G. candelabroides Kalbarri NP, mid-west coast, WA.
A spectacular grevillea which is restricted to the mallee and heathland
of the northern sandplains in this region.

Emu Tree (I have no idea why, sorry!) Hakea francisiana, Pinkawillinie CP, South Australia.
Most hakeas have fairly small white flowers, so this one is especially impressive.
It grows in mallee and associated heathlands across southern WA and as far
east as Eyre Peninsula (where this one was).

RUTACEAE

A familiar family even if we don't realise it - eg citrus fruit, boronias, correas etc. 

Boronia (also now known as Cyanothamnus) coerulescens, Wanilla Conservation
Park,  Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. This attractive species has flowers ranging
from bright blue (very unusual in Boronias) to greenish to pink to white;
this one appears to be on the bluish end of that spectrum. It is also the only boronia
that I know of that grows in mallee, but there are probably some I don't know
about in the west. It is found in mallee from WA through South Australia
to Victoria. (It was recently determined that Boronia contains more than
one distinct group of species, and 24 of them were moved to Cyanothamnus.)

Desert Phebalium P. bullatum, Gawler Ranges NP, South Australia.
Another mallee specialist, found from the Eyre Peninsula to western Victoria.
The yellow flowers and long stamens are unmistakably Phebalium.
('Desert' in southern Australian plant names is often a codeword for mallee -
see more in the previous posting, and also the next two species.)

SANTALACEAE

The sandalwood family is a widespread one, whose members are all at least partially parasitic on other plants - photosynthesising their own sugars, but pilfering other nutrients, especially from the roots.

Quandong (or Desert or Sweet Quandong, to distinguish it from other related Australian species)
Santalum acuminatum, Nambung NP, south-west WA. Quandongs grow throughout
the mallee lands, but also in woodlands well to the north. There is now quite an
industry (especially around the Flinders Ranges in South Australia) selling jams
and chutneys from the fruit. When I was a child, my grandmother had a cheap
Chinese Checkers set using painted quandong seeds as the moving pieces.

SAPINDACEAE

This is a large world-wide family, best known elsewhere for lychees, maples and horse chestnuts, and in Australia for the native hops, Dodonaea spp. Here there are some 60 species, with another 10 elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere.

Desert Hop-bush Dodonea stenozyga, near Yalata, eastern end of the Nullarbor Plain,
South Australia. The three-corner papery fruits are typical, but this one is
pretty well limited to the mallee.

SCROPHULARIACEAE

An unlovely name for this large cosmopolitan family. In this post all three members of the family I am introducing are species of (the 'desert lovers', in my Big Three of favourite Australian plant groups, along with orchids and banksias). Previously eremophilas, along with boobiallas (Myoporum) and a small WA genus, comprised the family Myoporaceae, but all have been moved into Scrophulariaceae. All Eremophila are arid-land plants, including the mallee.

Tar Bush Eremophila glabra, here at the eastern end of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia,
is found right across southern arid and semi-arid Austalia.

Weeooka Eremophila oppositofolia, Whyalla CP, South Australia.
It has a similarly wide distribution to Tar Bush, above.

Scotia Bush Eremophila scoparia, Lake Gilles CP, South Australia.
Again grows very widely across the mallee lands, and into the adjacent Mulga.

And I'm sure you'll agree that that's probably enough for today! If you're really not that interested in Australian wildflowers you'll have given up reading this long ago, so I don't really know why I'm addressing you... :-) If you are still here, thank you and I hope you've enjoyed this floral display that the mallee has produced. I'll be back once more with some more mallee delights, this time some animals. I hope you'll come back then.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 28 NOVEMBER

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