As yesterday was a lovely sunny day, we went for a walk through Lane Cove National Park. We only live about five minutes away, so it’s the national park we usually go to for a walk. It was lovely and quiet down there which made it an even more enjoyable walk than normal.
This delightful flower is pink spider flower, or Grevillea sericea based on my research that I’ve done this morning. While the common name includes pink, the flowers can also be white. As much as I love the showy grevillea cultivars that I see in gardens, the less showy grevillea species like this one are equally lovely.
In the next photo is narrow-leaved drumsticks, or Isopogun anethifolius. I must have walked past this plant so many times over the past fourteen years or so but never really noticed it before. I’ll have to go back between August and November to get some photos of the yellow flowers.
Next we have geebung, which has the genus name Persoonia. I can’t say what species it is, but I’ll be back down in the national park soon enough to get a better photo to help me determine which species it is!
I have written about heath-leaved banksia (Banksia ericifolia) before. Here it is in some of its native habitat. All through my walk, I saw it flowering through the trees and other vegetation. While only my ‘second favourite’ banksia (although, in reality, all banksias are great) I love the fact I saw lots of this species on my walk.
Another completely new plant for me on this walk is white dogwood, or Ozothamnus diosmifolius. I don’t actually remember ever seeing this plant before, so a little reading is in order!
The Sydney red gum (Angophora costata) is my favourite tree species. The reason is for the colour of the bark. I hope you can see why from the picture below.
The tree below is also a Sydney red gum. This specific tree has had the label of my favourite tree of my favourite tree species since I first laid eyes on it about fourteen years ago. Don’t ask why this tree is ‘my tree’, but it is.
This is a view along our walk. The ‘bush’ in Australia is a little scruffy-looking, but nature was never made to be tidy and neat. The ‘untidy’ thing that nature has, especially here in Australia, is what I love about nature. There is no pretence about it-and pretence is something that I dislike immensely. The reality is always more interesting (so don’t be boring)-how something looks and works, how it was, is and will be in the future is something I love learning about.
Finally, here is an old man banksia trunk-who says a wrinkled and knobbly look is boring? There is character in that bark, and that’s why I love this species.
These are the highlights of a throughly enjoyable walk.