Mornington Peninsula has a variety of wildflowers--both native and introduced. In springtime, they show their colours. In this blog, I describe the ones I commonly see on the coastal heath.
At the end of September (being the start of Spring in the southern hemisphere), flowers suddenly popped up on the coastal heaths of Mornington National Park. Everywhere I look now I see flowers, where there was almost nothing when we arrived in August. I've taken photos of what I think are the most common flowers.
In order to ID the flowers, I got some info from a great little booklet, "Plants that Clothe the Bluff", referring to Barwon Bluff, which is on the other side of Port Phillip Bay, about 20 miles from Sorrento. After that, I turned to the expert, Danny Reddan. Aside from being involved in a lot of great training projects with Indigenous/Aboriginal people Danny Reddan, is the most knowledgeable guy I know when it comes to the botanical world of this part of Victoria. You can see some of his work here.
Coast Tea-Tree
These plucky, scraggy bushes are everywhere on the coastal heath.
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Coast Tea-Tree.
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Coast Tea-Tree Leptosperum laevagatum
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"Plants that Clothe the Bluff" states: "When flowering, these trees are covered in masses of attractive white flowers. Its twisted, gnarled trunk and flaking bark add interest. It is an important part of the sand dune system, but, due to lack of fire and poor land management, it has spread rapidly".
Polygala
A nasty weed from South Africa. This one can also be found almost everywhere around suburban Sorrento.
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| Polygala, Polygala myrtillfolia. |
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Polygala Polygala myrtillfolia;...
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Clematis
Clematis initially flowers with elegant long petals, like the fingers of elegant gloves. Then these fray into scruffy white fluff.
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| Small-leaved clematis Clematis microphylla. |
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| Clematis. The long petals are visible here. |
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| Clematis. Small leaf, long petals. |
Plants that Clothe the Bluff states:
"The leaves are narrow with a pointed tip and the flowers have four petals with a mop of long stamens. The creamy white flowers give way to the feathery seed heads, perfect for dispersal by the wind and for use by native birds to make their nests."
Pigface
From what I can gather it is very difficult to differentiate between Karkalla, South African Pig Face or a hybrid of the two! It depends on the detail. The Native has more rounded leaves for example.
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This succulent appears earlier and lasts longer than most other flowers on the heath. It seems to follow the sun like a sunflower, or maybe I'm just paranoid after Day of the Triffids.
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Another friend did a survival course and said you could break open the leaves and suck on them to get water...this website on bush survival seems to confirm it: survival.org.au/water.php#pigface
Plants that Clothe the Bluff has a similar take: "A spreading fleshy plant with thick, three angled leaves often tinged with red, yellow or orange. A showy purple flower precedes a fleshy, edible red fruit. It can hybridise with C. aequilaterus, which is an introduced weed. This can make identification difficult."
Dolichos Pea
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Dolichos Pea Dipogon lignosus. Another weed; very pretty though.
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Coast salt bush
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| Coast salt bush Atriplex cinera. On the other side of the peninsula (Rye Jetty) |
According to "
Plants that Clothe the Bluff": "This dense spreading shrub has brittle branches and silver-grey leaves. The male and female flowers usually appear on different bushes. Male flowers are reddish-purple in dense globular clusters, while female flowers are cream, occurring in axillary clusters."
Succulent Daisy
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Looks like a succulent daisy.
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Coast Swainson Pea
These precious petals will be soon baked to a crisp by the summer sun.
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| Coast Swainson Pea Swainsona lessertifolia. |
The
great little booklet explains: "This stunning wildflower prefers the rear of the dunes. This delicate plant has sprawling stems of paired leaves and produce stalklets with up to 20 royal purple flowers, making this very hardy plant appear quite delicate."
Dune groundsel
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| Dune Groundsel Senecio spathulatus |
Native Flax Lilly
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| Native Flax Lilly Dianella implexa |
Plants that Clothe the Bluff states: "This soft green tussock hides dozens of tiny electric blue flowers with bright yellow stamens and black anthers. Fleshly royal blue fruits follow in January, which are eaten by a number of our native birds. Flowering stems are among the foliage rather than above it."
Coast Heath- leucopogon parviflorus
Coast Heath
Swamp paperbark - melaleuca ericifolia
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| Swamp paperbark - Melaleuca ericifolia |
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A little tendril is blown round-and-round by the wind, eventually describing a circle
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