Lane Cove National Park is one of my favourite places to go for a walk when I get the chance. On Saturday, I had time to go for a walk and I went on a slightly new route. I have to say that I really should along those paths more often, as it is a beautiful part of the national park. I started out walking along the same route as usual, but I carried straight on, instead of turning off to go down towards Lane Cove River itself.
The first picture is of a branch of an old man banksia, or Banksia serrata (read about this tree Here). One of the main reasons why I love this particular species is that the bark is so full of character, in both form and colour. The flowers are also feather pretty.
Lane Cove River runs through the heart of the national park from the north of Sydney to the Parramatta River, just before the latter flows into Sydney harbour. It is a beautiful little part of the world in the middle of one of Australia’s biggest city.
If you have read my blog for a while, you will likely know that my favourite tree is the Sydney red gum, Angophora costata (read about this great tree Here). This spring and summer, these trees that are known for having a fabulous colour to their bark have looked even better this year. I’m not really sure why this is, but the colours are mor vibrant. I have loved looking at them over the past few months.
Persoonia is a genus of shrubs and small trees that belong in the Proteaceae family. Common names for these plants include geebungs or snottygobbles (two great names in my opinion-you wont forget them in a hurry!). I am not going to claim I know what species either of the two photos below belong to as I don’t know. All I can say for certain is that the leaves and flower buds look lovely and the bark is really interesting.
I mentioned that the second part of my walk was a new route this week, which I loved walking along. These are the things I loved the most. The next image is of some steps I walked up-I loved the fact that the tree roots are growing around the stone steps in whatever way they fancy. I find nature fascinating in how it grows and works.
Sorry to be a little boring here, but I’m back to my Sydney red gums again-another thing that I love about these trees is the way their branches grow. It’s never in a straight line, they bend this way and that.
Their colour stands out against the green of the surroundings.
Finally for today is the odd-looking fruit pods of silky hakea, or Hakea sericea. Like all hakea species, they are also in the Proteaceae family. I like the fruits as they are a little odd-looking-just like many plants native to the country I now call home.
Those were the highlights of my weekend walk, I hope you have enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed the walk.