Our picturesque twisting Moonahs, Melaleuca lanceolata, have been putting on a wonderful snow-in-summer display along our coastal dunes and cliffs, with masses of highly perfumed, small ‘bottle-brush’ flowers.
Moonah
Two large shrubs have also starred in the white summer display, but need a close look to tell them apart. Common Cassinia, C. aculeata, has fine rich-green leaves, and flattish flower-heads of tiny white, almost closed flowers.
Common Cassinia
Tree Everlasting, Ozothamnus ferrugineus, has narrow but wider, duller leaves with a smooth waxy upper surface, and rounded heads of creamy flowers.
A real delight, but less common, are the rich blues of two species of Lobelia with unusual arrangements of their five-petalled flowers. In swampy areas the tiny flowers of Angled Lobelia, L. anceps, have a fan-shaped look.
Angled Lobelia
In heathlands, the bigger flowers of Tall Lobelia, L. gibbosa, have two backward-curving petals with three spreading ones below.
Tall Lobelia
Ellinor Campbell