Wild Flowers

White Finger Orchid

PictureBy Adrienne Ingram MKEG

​You'll find this beautiful ground, white finger orchid (Petalochilus alba) in flower now (August).
 
Small bees or flies pollinate them as you can see in this photo. 
 
The labellum, the lowest petal, is hinged and when a small fly or bee alights there, the petal springs up and forces the insect up against the stigma, which is inside the flower. 
 
Trapped inside the flower, the bee struggles to escape, and this causes the pollen from the anther to be smeared over the stigma, thus fertilising the flower. Eventually the insect is released.
 
All ground orchids produce tubers, which traditionally were roasted or eaten raw by Aborigines.

Anne Haskew  | Myall Koala and Environment Group
​August 2021

Wedding Bush

The wedding bush (Ricinocarpos pinifolius) is very conspicuous when it's in flower. You're able to see these flowers on may bush walks in Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest. The male and female flowers are unisexual, which means that either the male stamens or the female carpels are missing.
 
This results in two distinct flowers on each bush. The petals on both types are pure white, and the centres are either white or yellow.
 
The male flowers are distinguished by the mass of yellow stamens.  On the Wedding Bush there are usually only one female flower to three-to-six male flowers. 
 
The flowers are followed by fruit, that will ripen and split to release five shiny seeds.
 
Wedding Bush makes an attractive shrub for the garden, particularly for coastal areas on sandy soils.

​Anne Haskew  | Myall Koala and Environment Group
Picture
Wedding Bush by Sharon Taylor
Picture
Male and female flower of the Wedding Bush.

Flannel Flowers
Named for their soft, woolly feel, Flannel flowers grow from the NSW south coast up into south-east Queensland and normally flower in Spring and Summer, and are prolific some years more than others as they respond to the environment, eg bush fires, drought and rain.

Flannel flowers normally grow from about 30 to 70cm and can grow in the hundreds, whereby they support each other as they grow and can grow even taller!