Scented air

As I write, after yet another hot day, I have a window open, and scented air is wafting past my nose. As a naturalist, I am clearly a failure in the olifactory department, as I have no idea of the source of this scent. It is not a flower perfume, I think. It smells more like the smell of leaves of some kind of plant. But what?

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Several days ago, Sarah and I spent two hours looking at tiny wildflowers, mostly along the Tourist Road. This place is so rich in tiny flowering plants, after a while you hesitate to take another step, lest you crush some little plant. So many flowers, so little noticed.

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Photo of Scribbly Gums in one of the environments along the Tourist Road. Different plants are found where the soil type changes. Use the change in tree types as a guide to a new micro-environment.

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We found Little Tongue-orchids growing out in the slashed grasslands on Tourist Road. I have only seen them previously in the tall Eucalypt forests. Hyacinth Orchids are still going strong.

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Other plants are too numerous to mention, but the Bloodroot (Haemodorum sp) is a particularly interesting plant. It has dark brown flowers, almost black. Its tall black flower stems stand out above the grasses along the roadside. Flower Spiders love these flowers - there is nearly always one hiding in the clustered flower head.

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The Flying Duck Orchids were still in flower. I first saw them this year, on 26 October, so that is 2 months flowering season. They have had a good year. These Orchids seem to favour sandstone rock outcrops in the tall Eucalypt forest. Very fussy little creatures, it seems.