It was a pleasant autumn morning when eighteen people made their way in cars up the steep gravel track to the top of the hill in Gilbert St, Aireys Inlet. Our quest was to identify the plant species that were emerging following the fuel reduction burn in March 2023.
Field guides, plant lists and pencils were distributed and we made our way into the Great Otway National Park.
Luckily there were enough Angair members with plant knowledge to help identify the plants – some well developed and some just emerging. Margaret and Gail were able to help with some of the less obvious identifications.
There were just so many to see – our plant list climbed to over sixty species.
We have included just a few:-
And yes we did manage to find some plants in flower:
And of course we just had to find at least one species of orchid!
It was such a delight to be in the field with so many interested people and we look forward to returning to the site to see what happens in the spring and in future seasons. We apologise to the many other plants we found but have not featured.
Text and photos: Marg MacDonald