Bush walks are one thing I enjoy doing whenever I get a chance to, even in winter. One of the tings I enjoy most about the Australian bush in winter is the fact that there are flowers around, which is great. Flowers are never just for summer.
Banksia flowers are one of my favourites. This particular species is the heath-leaved banksia, you can read more here. I love how the orange stands against the green of the foliage in this photo.
Grass trees are always plants I like seeing. At the moment, they seem very lush and green. They are also not an actual tree, despite what the name suggests.
While many banksia species are still flowering, it’s the wattles that are the stars of the show at the moment. Their bright yellow flowers are so colourful and smell fabulous. I saw several different species on my travels today. The first is the Sydney golden wattle, Acacia longifolia, which is my favourite.
This lovely wattle is flax-leafed wattle, or acacia linifolia. This wattle only grows within the Sydney region. I love the delicate pale yellow flowers.
This wattle is the sunshine wattle, Acacia terminals. A more delicate looking wattle than a lot, but lovely all the same!
The last wattle for today is this rather prickly-looking one, which is called prickly moses. A rather random common name also called Acacia ulicifolia. There are another couple of species that I saw, but I will write more about those later on, along with more about the ones mentioned today.
Moving on to another type of native tree I’m fond of. The woody fruits below belong to the dwarf apple, Angophora hispida. It is a relative of my favaourite tree, the Sydney red gum, Angophora costata but looks a lot different. Still a wonderful tree to have around.
The picture below is of the trunk and branches of the Sydney red gum, which is a lot taller than the dwarf apple tree above. It also has smooth bark rather than rough bark.
This pink-flowered plant I believe id the red spider flower, Grevillea speciosa. It is a delight to see in the sandstone forest of the national park. Again, more information will follow on this lovely tree.
Finally for today, are a couple of photos of some sulphur-crested cockatoos. I think they are a breeding pair that I saw along the way. These cockatoos are one of the most common birds that I see. I certainly hear them if I don’t see them-they sound like I imagine dinosaurs would do!
I really enjoyed my walk. On thinking about it, winter is my favourite time of yer as some of my favourite plants are in flower at the moment. I have been spending a lot of my weekends in the national parks recently and I don’t think that will change anytime soon!