Sunday, November 13, 2011

New Kids on the Block

With all the rain over the past year or more (after 10 years of drought), it continually surprises me what I find popping up - plants I have never seen before, that obviously have been biding their time, waiting for sufficient rainfall to sprout again. Some I am having trouble identifying so all help gratefully received! I think the one above is either a trigger plant or a wax flower.
The stems are tall and the flowers grow up the stem - leaves at the bottom like a lily.

This one is a wattle mat-rush (thanks to my Wildflowers of the Brisbane Ranges book).

This is a very striking mat-rush, the many-flowered variety (I think).

And this is a lily I have rarely seen. We have a lot of beautiful fringe lilies, and a few others, mostly vanillas. I think this is a chocolate lily, although if I'd realised when I saw it, I could have sniffed to see if it really did smell of chocolate!

5 comments:

Denis Wilson said...

Hi Sherryl
You are very close with your plant IDs. The tall one (first) is a Trigger Plant. If you look closely, you can see the little arms which act like hammers, to whack a dob of pollen on the back of an insect, when the flower senses an insect's proboscis. That what "triggers" it to move.
The first Lomandra is the "multiflora" one (with the well-spaced flowers). The second is Lomandra longifolia by the looks of it. So-called Spiny-headed Mat-rush.
The last beauty is indeed one of the Chocolate Lilies, probably the
Nodding Chocolate Lily.
Dichopogon fimbriatus.
Spring is wonderful, this year.
Cheers
Denis

Sherryl said...

Thanks, Denis. It can be hard to see the differences just by using the books, and the bigger the book, the harder it is to find something like what you think the plant is!
Very helpful to "borrow" your knowledge!

Bert said...

Hi Sherryl & Denis.

The first Lomandra pic, judging by the flower spike, is L. filiformis, the Wattle Mat-rush. Its common in our herb-rich foothill forest, too.

bert

Denis Wilson said...

Thanks Bert
I just knew for sure the second one was not L. multiflora.
Good to have local knowledge come to the rescue, Bert.
Denis

Sherryl said...

All helpful, thanks. What is growing now that we've had lots of rain is a constant source of surprise for me!

 
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