A very pleasant meander on the small track up the hill from the end of Ellimatta Rd, had us discovering many plants, as well as fungi.
Discussing the plants
The remaining grasstree flower stalks indicated they had flowered well after the recent fire. We enjoyed the tiny, gilled fungi and some lovely bracket fungi.
Belly Buttons
Almost at the top of the hill the paired leaves of Fringed Hare Orchids stood out with the patch extending quite a way along the track. It was a thrill to find two still in flower.
Fringed Hare Orchid
Fringed Hare Orchid leaves
We headed off to the right along a muddy track and worried about the Phytophthora spreading with bikes regularly using the track.
Evidence of Phytophtora in grasstree
The view of the coast was enjoyed with pink Common Heath coming into flower in the foreground. On a short detour towards the coast, we discovered a few more plants including Propeller Plant and two flowering pea-type plants growing together, confusing us as we tried to identify them. We decided one was Showy Parrot-pea and the other Red Parrot-pea.
Red parrot-pea
Returning to the car we all agreed it had been a fine morning of discovery.
Fungi and Sundews
Alison Watson