MELBOURNE TRAM

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

VANESSA

The Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) is a species of butterfly mostly confined to Australia, although westerly winds have dispersed it to islands east of Australia, including New Zealand.

Debate surrounds the taxonomy of this species. Some believe that the Australian painted lady should be a subspecies of the painted lady (Vanessa cardui) due to the similarity in lifestyle and behaviour. Furthermore, the painted lady is found around the globe, but Australia is the only location in which it varies enough to be considered a separate species. However, due to the distinct genitalia of the males, and variation in colouration, many others consider the Australian painted lady to be a separate species.

During spring, adult butterflies migrate south in large numbers from northern states of Queensland and New South Wales. To find mates, male Australian painted ladies exhibit territorial behaviour, which involves a male perching on vegetation in a sunny spot on a hilltop, waiting for females to fly by. Despite urbanization and invasive plants altering its habitat, populations of Australian painted ladies have not been significantly impacted by these changes.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

AFTERNOON SUN

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

PINK AND BLUE

Pink statice and blue delphiniums.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

DAREBIN CREEK

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

SCIENCE GALLERY

The Science Gallery Melbourne is located in Melbourne Connect, the University of Melbourne's hub for innovation. It is a space that explores the collision of art and science and is part of the International Science Gallery Network, pioneered by Trinity College Dublin and connecting creative thinkers worldwide.

Entry is free and everyone is invited to explore, question, and imagine. The Gallery hosts exhibitions, events, learning initiatives, and research, in a space that challenges ideas, experiments and asks the visitor to look into the future, thinking about what may develop.

The global network of galleries linked to leading universities, bring researchers, academics, and students into conversations with artists, creatives and visitors. Such galleries invite new collaborations that break boundaries and shift how we all see the world.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme.

DEKOPON

Dekopon, also known by its brand name Sumo Citrus, is a large, seedless, sweet, and easy-to-peel Japanese hybrid citrus fruit that tastes like an intense mandarin orange with low acidity. It is known for its distinctive "topknot," a protruding top from its bumpy skin, and is available seasonally, typically from mid-winter to mid-spring.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

WAITING

"They always take so long to make up their mind when they're shopping!'

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

DOG WALK

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

NATIVE FRANGIPANI

Hymenosporum is a monotypic genus of trees in the family Pittosporaceae. The sole included species is Hymenosporum flavum, commonly known as native frangipani, found in the rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests of New Guinea, Queensland and New South Wales. Despite its common name, it is not closely related to the frangipani, but is related to the widespread genus Pittosporum.

Hymenosporum flavum is a semi-deciduous tree up to 25 m high and a trunk diameter (DBH) to 45 cm. The obovate leaves are simple, alternate, glossy green above and lighter below. They measure up to 13 cm long by 4.5 cm wide, and are clustered towards the ends of the branches in pseudo-whorls.

The very fragrant flowers are quite large, about 40 mm diameter with a floral tube up to 28 mm long. They are initially functionally male, and coloured white with lemon tinges. Over a period of about 5 days the stigma begins to develop and the stamens curl away. At the same time the colour deepens until the fully functioning female flower is golden yellow with red/purple track lines in the throat.

The fruit is a dehiscent, two-chambered capsule, black/brown, densely hairy and about 35 mm wide and long. Seeds are about 7 mm long with a 4 mm  wing. They are numerous, and stacked together to fill each chamber.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme