Sunday, October 14, 2012

Little treasures (Wild Flower Watch V)

Once again the Queenstown Cemetery has out done itself.

Once again Al has to confess ignorance of Oz botany!

I saw this tiny star like flower as soon as I went into the cemetery.
 
Absolutely no idea what it is, but it is very sweet. Here it is at another angle
 


These have just been buds until today,
 
I had guessed they are not a native and I was right. They are Yellow Ixia, and as pretty as they are they are essentially a weed in the Oz bush.
I guess this blue delight is a Wahlenbergia species known as Australian bluebells but I could easily be wrong as it doesn’t look quite right.

I haven’t seen this pea before; unlike most of the others in the cemetery it is a creeping vine rather than a little shrub. I think it is Creeping Bossiaea (Bossiaea prostrate)
 

The tiny shrub peas are beginning to wither away
 


No idea what this is, but I guess it might be one of the “heaths”. They are minute, the petals about the size of a rice grain.
 

Another mystery. 
Unfortunately I didn’t notice the blade of grass across the frame until it came to processing the piccies at home

A trigger plant. I think this one has “fired”
 

This odd spear looked like budding flowers,
 

But in extreme close up I think this is actually a head of absolutely minute flowerettes

This Wahlenbergia  (if that is what it is) refused to be overshadowed by a weed!
 
But the treat of the day was definitely an orchid, or should I say number of orchids
 
They are Spotted Sun Orchids (Thelymitra merranae)

I went nuts shooting maybe fifty frames of various specimens poking up through the grass.
This one is just unfurling
 
Close ups
 
And super close ups
 
A spray of several in a group.
 
And this is my favourite of the day.
 

4 comments:

mshatch said...

oh my so pretty! I'm envious of you now with Spring coming. It's damp and dreary here :(

Love the last two shots.

Jai Joshi said...

You say you're ignorance of Oz flora but it seems to me that you know quite a bit! The spotted orchids are gorgeous.

Jai

Kristen M. said...

The spotted sun orchids are gorgeous, especially the spray!

Anonymous said...

Oooh, gorgeous! Those bright colours have lifted my spirits (from the mud wherein they dwell). I'm struck by that wonderful shade of blue; we have nothing like that here.