Western Australia Wildflowers Stops

After touring the southern part of Western Australia, we headed north from Fremantle to Geraldton. Along the way, we made several stops to admire the wildflowers.

Ian Wilson Trail Head

We stopped along the roadside on Highway 1, the Brand Highway. After a long bus ride, our group quickly dispersed into the low bush, looking at plants and wildflowers. The soil was white sand, forming slight dunes left behind by the Indian Ocean over millions of years. As is often the case when doing roadside botanizing in Australia, we hadn’t seen most of the wildflowers on our earlier stops.

We did a bathroom and wildflower stop at the Ian Wilson Trail Head. The trail head is located on the eastern edge of sand plains of Badgingarra National Park and is known for its diversity of wildflowers.

Our second stop would be just a miles further up the road.

Kangaroo Paws Family – Haemodoraceae

One of the first plants that caught our attention was Blancoa canescens growing out of the white sand. It is endemic to just a small area of Western Australia and closely related to kangaroo paws. The fuzzy flowers and foliage protect it from the harsh Australian sun and help it conserve water.

We encountered the vibrant flowers of this short Anigozanthos humilis. Almost everywhere we stopped to search for wildflowers we found this plant commonly known as catspaw. It is endemic to the southern region of Western Australia. It is not as well-known as its taller, red and green flowered cousin, Anigozanthos manglesii, which serves as the symbol for Western Australia.

The third Haemodoraceae family member was this soft yellow flowered Conostylis setigera – Bristly cottonhead. It also was seen in many places we stopped.

Protea Family – Proteaceae

The Protea family, named after the shape-shifting Greek Sea god, is well-represented in Western Australia. The plants of this family boast an astonishing variety of colors, shapes, flowers, and textures, making them a fitting namesake.

Conospermum

Another endemic plant we had been seeing off and on from the bus for several days was smokebush. I was glad we were finally able to get up close to see the fuzzy blindingly white, tube shaped flowers with a small black center. Surprisingly it is the Proteaceae family. These really standout in the landscape. There are several other species of Conospermum in Australia, but C. undulatum only grows in this area of Western Australia.

In doing some research on the plant, I found out that it has another unique characteristic in that ants pollenate and disperse its seeds. On the blog, In Defense of Plants, I found this:

“It turns out that the floral morphology of the smokebush lends well to visiting ant anatomy. The tiny flowers produce a small amount of nectar at the base. As ants shove their heads down into the flower to get a drink, it triggers an explosive mechanism that causes the style the smack down onto the back of the ant. In doing so, it also mops up any pollen the ant may be carrying. At the same time, the anthers explosively dehisce, coating the visitor with a fresh dusting of pollen.”

Hakeas

Interestingly, Hakeas, like the smokebush, belong to the Proteaceae family, with varied appearances of many of the unusual plants found in Western Australia.

We observed 2 Hakeas. The first was Hakea costata, Ribbed Hakea. The white, bottle-brushed shaped flowers really stood out. Has soft narrow leaves.

The second plant is Hakea prostrata, known as Harsh Hakea. Unlike its cousin, it boasts exceptionally sharp leaves.

Stirlingia – Blue Boy

Surprising Stirlingia is also in the Protea family, though it looks more like it would related to kangaroo paws. These two plants were growing near each other, but I’m not sure if they are the same or separate species. What do you think?

You might wonder why these are called blue boy since there isn’t anything particularly blue about them. The common name refers to the fact that wall plaster made using white sand taken from where they grow turns blue.

Synaphea spinulosa

Banksia candolleana

There seems to be one or more Banksia species everywhere you go in Western Australia. We observed a different species at each stop.

This one at the first stop is endemic to the sand plains of this area. Unfortunately we were too late for its blooms, but spent ones remain on the plant. This species is lignotuberous meaning that it would likely regrow from after a fire from the underground tuber.

At our second stop, we observed Banksia hookeriana, many of which still bore their large, acorn-shaped flowers in bloom. Unlike its cousin, B. candolleana, Banksia hookeriana lacks a lignotuber, which is a structure that helps it survive fires. Instead, it is killed during bushfires but quickly reseeds the burned area. The plant holds its seeds in seed pods that remain on the plant until a fire occurs. After the fire, the seeds are released. As long as fires don’t occur too frequently, Banksia hookeriana remains one of the dominant plants in the area. However, if the interval between fires is too short, there isn’t enough time for the plant to accumulate a large seed bank, which could lead to its extinction.

Inspite of what I found online, apparently the seedpods can release their seeds without a fire as shown in the photo below.

Lambertia multiflora – Many-flowered Honeysuckle

Petrophile

What a cute common name. Too bad we were too early, or were we too late, to see the pale purple flowers.

A second species with narrower leaves had just a hint of color left in it’s flowers.

Other Plants and Flowers

Lachnostachys eriobotrya – lambswool

Speeding along the highway at bus-speed, I noticed these striking glimpses of blinding white flowers that were challenging to discern. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that these white flashes were actually the result of two distinct plants, one of which is unrelated to the other. The taller plant in the background is the aptly named smokebush, Conospermum undulatum, which I discussed earlier in the post. The other plant is Lachnostachys eriobotrya, commonly known as Lambswool, characterized by its soft, woolly flowers. Interestingly, Lambswool belongs to the mint family, Lamiaceae.

Rounding out the plants growing here some of the usual plant species you commonly see in Western Australia…grass trees, terrestrial orchids, Hibbertia, Melaleuca, a pea bush, and carnivorous sundews.

Calytrix is fairly common in Western Australia, in the myrtle family and always beautify when in flower.

Dodder was a bit of a surprise. It looks very similar to our local San Diego dodder. Shown on the right below.

A couple of terristrial orchids were found hiding in the bush.

A few more miscellaneous plants:

Let’s close our tour with Hemiphora bartlingii, commonly known as the woolly dragon. It is in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It looked a little too delicate and non-native to be growing here, but it turns out it is endemic to the white sands north of Perth.