This December has been a bit of a trial. I have had to plan for very hot weather in the bush and consequently a very early start in the morning with lots of breaks. Fortunately, I was only looking for a limited number of species. Most plants have gone dormant very early this year and not many plants are flowering. That does make it easier to spot them. High up, Eucalyptus dorriennii (Silver Mallee) and Eucalyptus albida (White-leaved Mallee) are putting on a show. Closer to the ground, I still find pink Goodenia’s in flower and also the blue Microcorys species.
This year I managed to get to see flowers on Haemodorum discolor, one of the bloodroots. This genus only occurs in Australia and New Guinea, with 19 endemic species in Australia and 20 world-wide. The other surprise was to find a flowering stand of the Christmas tree, Nuytsia floribunda in the centre of the reserve. I had spotted it to the west of the reserve along the Dumbleyung-Lake Grace Road, but not seen it flowering in the reserve. I was also hoping to see and photograph the fruit of the blue-berry lily (Dianella revoluta) but they have finished flowering and all the flowering stalks have disappeared. Maybe the kangaroos or birds do feed on these?
Finally, it is a great time to go insect hunting at this time of the year as they are easy to spot with few flowering shrubs around, and they are very active at the moment. I managed to get a great photo of one of the jewel beetles and also the Christmas spiders are out. The adult females are less than 1 cm in length, and have several pointed spines on their abdomen, with brightly coloured patches of white, orange and blue. Have a look at their web as it is different from the other orb-weaving spiders. So a good Christmas to you all and a safe New Year ahead. I plan to be back traversing the reserve for another couple of months to enable me to find those pesky plants that I didn’t get over the last two years. To another hopeful New Year.
If you have any questions or want to assist, you can reach me by email at tarinrockbook@gmail.com or by phone on 0439978550.
Article by Jolanda Keeble
This year I managed to get to see flowers on Haemodorum discolor, one of the bloodroots. This genus only occurs in Australia and New Guinea, with 19 endemic species in Australia and 20 world-wide. The other surprise was to find a flowering stand of the Christmas tree, Nuytsia floribunda in the centre of the reserve. I had spotted it to the west of the reserve along the Dumbleyung-Lake Grace Road, but not seen it flowering in the reserve. I was also hoping to see and photograph the fruit of the blue-berry lily (Dianella revoluta) but they have finished flowering and all the flowering stalks have disappeared. Maybe the kangaroos or birds do feed on these?
Finally, it is a great time to go insect hunting at this time of the year as they are easy to spot with few flowering shrubs around, and they are very active at the moment. I managed to get a great photo of one of the jewel beetles and also the Christmas spiders are out. The adult females are less than 1 cm in length, and have several pointed spines on their abdomen, with brightly coloured patches of white, orange and blue. Have a look at their web as it is different from the other orb-weaving spiders. So a good Christmas to you all and a safe New Year ahead. I plan to be back traversing the reserve for another couple of months to enable me to find those pesky plants that I didn’t get over the last two years. To another hopeful New Year.
If you have any questions or want to assist, you can reach me by email at tarinrockbook@gmail.com or by phone on 0439978550.
Article by Jolanda Keeble
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