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Blue Mountains National Park |
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To return to Blue Mountains National Park Wildflowers index |
This set of wildflowers are "simply" those that belong to smaller floral families.
An index to the images included below.The Gang Gang Cockatoo is one of 265 native bird species that live in the Park - refer United Nations Environment Programme.
This is almost a third of Australia's native birds.
The following birds have their own web-page -
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◊ Australian King-Parrot
◊ Crimson Rosella ◊ Kookaburra |
◊ Rainbow Lorikeet
◊ Sulphur-crested Cockatoo ◊ Tawny Frogmouth |
Images of many of the other birds found in the Park are on our Birds web page. These include -
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Australian Magpie
Australian Raven Australian Wood Duck Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Common Bronzewing Crested Pigeon Eastern Spinebill Eurasian Coot |
Galah
Grey Currawong Grey Shrike-thrush Magpie-lark New Holland Honeyeater Noisy Miner Pacific Black Duck Peaceful Dove |
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong Red Wattlebird Red-browed Finch Satin Bowerbird Spotted Pardalote White-faced Heron White-throated Treecreeper |
Select the thumbnail image to see the full image.
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Small summer flowering climber with distinctive flowers and leaves. Also known as the Purple Fan-flower. |
Distinctive, mainly due to its colour. Also identified by its diamond shaped leaves. Flowering most of the year, but best in spring. Also see our Blue Dampiera web page. Here's an image of a white variant. |
Although its flowers are very similar to the Blue Dampiera in shape, their purple colour is a give away. Its oval leaves are also very different. |
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Summer flowering, usually with single flowers along the stem with several at the "crown". Flowers are 10mm across. |
Flowering from Spring through to Autumn, the subspecies montana is recognised by its hairy revolute leaves. Here's another image. |
Its initial growth is cunningly disguised as a broad-leaf weed, but once in flower it is 5-10cm long and 2cm wide leaves which identifies it. Here's another image. |
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Also known as the Ridge Flannel Flower, this endangered flower only appears in the season following bush fires. The flowers are 20mm in diameter. |
Its felt like petals tipped in the softest pale green make this a favourite of many. The leaves are also a feature of this plant. The flowers are 50mm in diameter. |
A small plant with flowers up to 12mm across. Like its siblings, it doesn't have petals, the petal-like part are bracts. It seems to always be in flower. |
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Flowering in Autumn, Carrot Tops is best identified by the bouquet of tiny (3mm across) flowers at the end of a long and oblique stalk. |
This is the mountain heath form whose leaves are broad. A variety found in the Lane Cove National Park has lance like leaves. |
This small plant is recognised by its hairy variable leaves and tiny yellow flowers. The leaves are sometimes lobed; sometimes diamond shaped; and, of course, sometimes neither. The latter two are shown on the specimen found in the Lane Cove National Park. It flowers for much of the year, but mainly in Summer. |
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A climbing vine with a an umbel* of white flowers (5mm wide) in summer. The fruit is 5cm in length. Here's another image. * - an umbel is an inflorescence in which all flowers or flower stalks arise from one point. |
As far as I can ascertain -
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A unique plant - with its pink flowers hanging down and its six leaves radiating from the stem. It flowers in spring and summer and prefers sheltered damp embankments. It is also known as the Dog Rose. Here's another image. |
With flowers that resemble some of those of the acacia family, this beautiful tree grows over 10 metres high along watercourses. It flowers in spring. Here's another image. This image shows its dramatic new growth. |
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Identified by its recurved, slightly hairy leaves with tubercles (bumps) on the edges and tapered at the end. The leaf is not that dissimilar to that of Banksia ericifolia (except for the tapering at the end). |
Similar to Tetratheca ericifolia but without the hairs and tubercles. Interestingly, its red branchlets are not mentioned in references. |
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A small broom-like shrub with characteristic square-ish branches. The inflorescence is about 5mm across. |
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A small shrub whose shiny and hairy leaves are about 6mm long, and are often bent at the tip. The variety that has red male flowers (shown here) only occurs in the Sydney region. |
A small plant to about 30cm high. Its recurved shiny leaves are about 12-15mm in length. The flower-heads are held at the end of long branching stems and contain both male and female flowers. The female flowers have red styles - only 3 styles, but they are bifid (divided in two). The male flowers are shown more clearly on the Lane Cove National Park specimen. |
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At first glance it looks like a white Dahlia. (The Dahlia is Mexico's national flower.) Flowering in Spring, the flower head contains multiple flowers. The name Rice-flower Pseudanthus is not in wide use. |
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A delightful little plant with a self explanatory name. The undersides of its leaves are purplish. Its 10mm flowers appear in the warmer months. |
This delicate little flower appears in spring and summer. It can have a vibrant electric blue colour, that I have (as yet) been unable to capture. |
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There are six species of the Mitrasacme genus (the Mitreworts) in NSW - five of which are probably found in the Blue Mountains National Park. The orange flower bud is shaped like a bishop's hat - which is called a mitre - thus its name. Missing from the gallery below are M. alsinoides, M. paludosa and M. pilosa. |
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The easiest of the Mitrewort siblings to identify - due to its negligible pedicel (stalk). [The botanical word for this is "sessile".] Its flowers are 6mm wide; its leaves are 6mm long and 2mm wide. |
Identified by its multiple flowers, it is also leggier (at 25cm) than its siblings. It has very hairy branches and leaves. This image shows the multiple flowers. |
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The easiest member of the Lomandra genus to identify due to its 'fish bone" like leaves. It flowers in spring |
Also known as Honey Reed, both its thorns and leaves can inflict pain. Very hardy and flowers in spring. |
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Flowering in spring, its 20mm flowers become purple edible fruit. This climber is also known as Dumplings. |
A tree to about 8 metres in height, it has scores of white flowers in spring which progress to orange coloured berries by autumn. Also see our Sweet Pittosporum web-page. |
Also known as Mary's Flower, it is a small plant whose flowers are only 8mm wide. |
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A tall leggy shrub over a metre high. Its mauve flowers appear in spring. Also known as Pyramid Flower, Pink Matchheads and Heath Milkwort. |
Also Known as Leafless Milkwort, C. defoliatum is about half the size of C. sphaerocarpum and they look very similar. [This image was taken in 2004 when I was not taking supplementary photos that included a rule. I have deduced that the specimen above is not C. sphaerocarpum due to slightly different shaped petals - see the specimen on the LCNP webpage for a comparison.] |
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Pomaderris plants are in bud for months before they bloom, and are also hard to distinguish from each other. I have deduced that the above specimen is Pomaderris andromedifolia, as its flowers are yellow and have petals. Its leaves are 30mm long, 10 mm wide, hairless above, but very felty below. The name Andromeda Pomaderris is not widely used. |
A tiny plant - its aged-looking branches making it look like a bonsai. Its spine-like branches help identify it. Its 3mm long flowers start out white, and then become pink, and eventually are a dusky pink with a "red centre". |
Its leaves are 3mm long and 1 mm wide.
There are three varieties - ◊ amara - shown here ◊ floribunda - doesn't have spiny branches ◊ longiflora - has flowers up to 6mm. |
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A blaze of tiny white flowers - barely 2mm wide - in late winter through to summer. Here's an image of the bush. |
Identified by its discolourous* and recurved leaves it is the only species of this genus in the Blue Mountains. The images captured here are between flowering in November and maturing of the fruit in late summer. The flowers are white and the mature fruit is purple. [* discolourous - coloured differently on the two surfaces.] |
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It can be distinguished from other members of the genus by its leaves which have one set of "teeth", and its upper leaves are toothless. |
The Purple Eyebright is identified by its 3 pairs of "teeth" on its decussate* leaves. * pairs of opposite leaves that are 90o from the next pair. |
Here is a white variant of the "Purple" Eyebright. It was growing with its more colourful siblings. |
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The easiest of the triggerplants to identify due to its crowded basal rosette of narrow leaves which are usually about 25mm long and only 1 mm wide. Here's another image. |
Identified by its leggy leaved rosette whose leaves are over 50mm long and up to 250mm, and whose leaves are 5mm wide. |
Identified by it sets of leaves along its aerial branches. Younger plants are hard to distinguish from the Grass Triggerplant. The image shows a flower that has two triggers. |
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Found in sheltered and damp areas, it is a fairly common groundcover. Its leaves are variable, and it is best identified by its white and purple flowers - which are 15mm wide. Here's another image. |
The genus is called Spade Flowers. This species is also known as Lady's Slipper, and its multiple flowers on each stem, distinguishes it from H. vernonii. |
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Clinging to its Eucalyptus host, with its pendulous Eucalyptus like leaves. |
The fronds of this unusual fern appear in winter and are 15mm wide. |
Also known as Sweet Sarsaparilla, this climber is identified by the three veins on its leaves. Its tiny flowers become black berries that are about 7mm across. |
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Its 3cm wide flowers are glorious in close up. The linoides subspecies is a leggy plant and can be well over two 2 metres in height - and this can help identify it. The plant shown here was found on the Prince Henry Cliff Walk near Gordon Falls, Leura. It is also known as Granny's Bonnet. |
This easily identified plant is a uniform dull light green in colour. Its leaves are in two rows on opposite sides of the branch. Its small flowers are about 5mm across. |
The shiny prickly leaves helps identify this species, as does the redness underneath the leaves. The newer leaves are dark red. Here's another image. |
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A member of the Droseraceae family that includes the Venus Fly Trap, the Forked Sundew has 2, 4 or 8 "branches" that have glandular hairs that trap insects. It bears white 10mm wide flowers in summer - whose long stems could be mistaken for belonging to another plant. |
Also known as the Southern Sassafras, this winter flowering tree is found near water in sheltered gullies. It is the only species in this genus. Here's another image. |
Bladderworts are carnivorous plants that take in and digest small organisms through their leaves. This species flower is 14mm wide and 9 mm deep. U. dichotoma is similar but has two flowers. |
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A sibling of the herb St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum). The flowers are about 1cm across and the leaves near the flowers are appressed. |
Easily recognised, Old Man's Beard is also known as Curly Wig. |