Unexpectedly I had an hour to spare yesterday between engagements near Black Mountain (dry eucalypt forest near the centre of Canberra) so I did a short walk near the summit. In particular I wanted to see if the spectacular Golden Pomaderris were flowering, and I was duly rewarded. Most Pomaderris have relatively inconspicuous flowers, white or greenish; moreover they tend to live (around here at least) in wet mountain gullies. This one, Pomaderris intermedia, defies both those generalisations. In fact I strongly suspect that many people, understandably, mistake it for wattle from a distance.
Another welcome addition to the spring celebrations is Nodding Blue Lily, Stypandra glauca, one of the first of the forest lilies to appear here.
The last two I want to share are both much less conspicuous, as is the wont of the family Euphorbiaceae, known here best for weeds such as Castor Oil Bush and the spurges. (An exception is the coastal Wedding Bush, in being both native and spectacular, which I featured recently under Nowra Flowering.) The flowers of both these following species are tiny, only millimetres across.
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| Thyme Spurge, Phyllanthus hirtellus, above and below. |
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| Small Poranthera, Poranthera microphylla. |
I think there can be as much satisfaction - and beauty - in these tiny and oft overlooked species, as in their flashier neighbours.
Plenty more to come in this series, as October looms!
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