Wild Windellama
by Paul Alessi
November 2005
Drosera auriculata ( Sundew)
More than
half the world's 90 odd species of Sundew are Australian,
this genus takes on many forms, some are
climbers and some are aquatics,
but one common sundew Drosera auriculata can be found in our
paddocks at this
time of year, Sundew are unusual in that they are carnivorous, a
moist sticky
dew like substance is held on hairs on the outsides of the leaves
trapping small insects that land there and becoming food for the
plant.
According to the text books the flowers should be white but those
I have seen have bright pink flowers so I think there needs to be
more study
done on our carnivorous Sundews.
Pultenaea microphylla ( Bacon and Egg)
One of the large family of pea
flowered plants, P.microphylla
is very common on our harder ground especially yellow clays
in the eastern part and on towards Nerriga, it is a very
attractive
groundcover flowering yellow and orange from early October. The
leaves are
blunt tipped.There is another similar Pultenaea species growing
in Windellama
and that is the threatened species P. pedunculata.
Pultenaea pedunculata
Very similar to P. microphylla
above but the flowers are a brighter yellow,
and the centre is more red than orange and they are on a definite
stem or peduncle
about 10mm long, the leaves are pointed on the ends, although
common in some parts
of Windellama this is a very rare species, and is on the list of
Australian threatened plants
it is found in a few disjunct locations in south and eastern
Australia, more than half the known world population of this
species is in Windellama, it prefers to grow along gully lines.
Copyright
Paul Alessi 2005