Eneabba

8-9^th October, 2012

Western Flora Caravan Park sounded great for wildflowers in its brochure, and we were not disappointed this time- it lived up to its claim and more!

About 7 km north of the caravan park we stopped to look at a previously burned heathland which was a wonderland of flowers!

As usual, many unknowns,

 

 

 

An Astroloma ?



 Lots of Cats Paws

 

and Dampiera



 

a Petrophile..another genus of cone bush

 



 

And some Geraldton Wax

 

 

On the day we arrived, Alan Tinker, the owner, took a group of about 20 people for a guided walk (no charge) from 4.30 – 6.30pm and it was fantastic!

The focus was not simply identification  (although there was a lot of that!)

Red Lechenaultia

 

 

Pale blue Lechenaultia

 



 

and Scrambling Lechenaultia...we'd seen this bush first near Shark Bay.

 



..... the Wreath flower we saw near Mingenew is also a Lechenaultia...fascinating.

Alan talked about the origin of the sand plains, the pollination of flowers and grasses, adaptations for survival in fire, and so many other interesting topics.

He finished with a session using a dissecting microscope with the image projected onto a screen, to show detail of the structure of some flowers in relation to their pollination. Wonderful!

A Scaevola

 

 

A Calytrix

The next morning we went on a tagalong tour with Alan. There were just 8 people in the group, and he led us to lots of different places to show us a range of flowers

Several different Verticordias (Feather flowers)

 

 

and talked about the intricacies of the pollination strategy of many of them. For example, with the Black Kangaroo Paw, (a Macropidia)

the flowers are arranged so that the flower that is ready to be pollinated is at the top of the stem, facing the bird which comes to seek nectar. As soon as that flower is pollinated, it then moves to one side and the next flower lines up .... amazing!

An area thick with Dampiera

Wildflower time is certainly more than everlastings!