Flowers and Seeds of
South Australian Native Plants

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1. All photographs are in .jpg format, and have been cropped and
   reduced to low resolution to increase loading speeds.
2. Best viewed without viewer's browser set to overriding the background colors.
   (No gif or jpg backgrounds).
3. General descriptions of locations and time of flowering/taking
   of the photograph are included at the foot of each photograph.
4. All but two photographs are under 30K; the biggest is Bursaria
   Spinosa @ 42K.
5. All photographs are copyleft: use them by all means, so long as
   you say where they came from.
6. Plants stay the same, but sometimes botanical names change, or
   names are misspelt.
   Corrections gratefully received.
   The correct botanical name for Sturt's Desert Pea
   would be particularly appreciated.

The quick way through each section is to click on the image.

Terrestrial Orchids

1. Caladenia Patersonii
   The white spider orchid
2. Corybas diemenicus,
   The helmet orchid
3. Cyrtostylis reniformis,
   The mosquito orchid
4. Diuris Longifolia,
   The rabbit orchid
5. Lyperanthus nigricans,
   The fire orchid

Shrubs

1. Banksia ornata,
   The winter banksia
2. Clianthus dampierii,
   Sturt's Desert Pea
3. Compositae spp,
   The poached egg daisy
4. Crespedia spp,
   Billy Buttons
5. Dodonea spp,
   The hop bush
6. Eremophila spp,
   The emu bush
7. Xanthorrhoae spp,
   The grass tree

Trees

1. Banksia marginata,
   The summer banksia
2. Bursaria spinosa,
   The Christmas Box
3. Eucalyptus gillii,
   The curly gum
   

If the flowering plants, the Angiosperms, evolved in a tropical Australia (as many people believe), they spread to the rest of the world by the land bridges that existed before the continents drifted apart.

Now, South Australia is the driest state, in the driest continent in the world. Rainfall ranges from 30" (750mm) each year in the far south ("the South East") to less than 5" (100mm or less) in the far North. Summers (November to April) are hot and dry; in the southern half of the state most of the rain falls between April and September. In the north, rain falls if extreme weather conditions come in from the south in winter, or, more often, if summer storms drift south from tropical north Australia.

Plants from northern South Australia have adapted to withstand extremes of heat and drought. Plants from southern South Australia have adapted to withstand bushfires started by lightening during summer thunder storms. Some, like Lyperanthus nigricans, rarely flower unless there has been a fire during the previous summer. Others, such as Banksia ornata, need fire for the seeds to germinate. There are plants flowering year round, but most flower in the June to December period.

Three great flora zones intersect in the Northern Flinders Ranges (also known as the Gammon Ranges): the flora of arid Australia, the flora of western New South Wales, and the flora of South Eastern Australia. In a band across the middle of the state, from the West Coast to Victoria, "the Mallee", shrubland species join the flora of Western Australia and the flora of eastern Australia.

To the west of the Mallee, between Penong and the border of Western Australia lies a huge limestone plain, "the Nullabor", where there are no trees and the shrubs are knee high. In July each year, Southern Right Whales come to the Nullabor cliffs, from Antarctica, to calve. Often they are no more than sixty feet away from any whale watchers on the cliffs, and at night they snore. Loudly.

Any enquiries about the plants; suggestions for web links; etc; to-

The Suggestions Box

Technical enquiries about original photographs (type of film, lenses etc) to-

WinePress

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