The strangely named but delightful Monkey Flower, Thyridia repens, is on display at exposed mud flats such as at the Painkalac Creek estuary. I think that the mauve petals with a downy yellow centre resemble butterfly wings. Others, however, see a mouth-like shape with a spotted, tongue-like lower lip resembling a monkey face. What do you see?
Monkey Flower
Nearby, and also along the Anglesea River, are the pink or white daisy-like flowers of Creeping Brookweed, Samolus repens.
Creeping Brookweed
Austral Brooklime, Gratiola peruviana, is widespread in swamps such as the Allen Noble Sanctuary, and has single pinkish-white tubular flowers with purplish stripes. The thick fleshy stems with opposite stem clasping leaves are quite distinctive.
Austral Brooklime
Particularly obvious at this sanctuary are the massed slender deep-pink spikes of Slender Knotweed, Persicaria decipiens. Maybe the name which includes ‘weed’ is appropriate for this native species as it dominates the vegetation around the water edges.
Slender Knotweed
Ellinor Campbell