WINTRY SUN

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

RED GREVILLEA

Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, native to rainforest and more open habitats in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Sulawesi and other Indonesian islands east of the Wallace Line. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville, an 18th-century patron of botany and co-founder of the Royal Horticultural Society.

The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 50 cm (20 in) tall to trees 35 m (115 ft) tall. Common names include grevillea, spider flower, silky oak and toothbrush plant. Closely related to the genus Hakea, the genus gives its name to the subfamily Grevilleoideae.

The brightly coloured, petal-less flowers consist of a calyx tube that splits into four lobes with long styles. They are good bird-attracting plants. Honeyeaters in particular are common visitors. They are also used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the dryandra moth and Pieris rapae (small white).

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

FADING LIGHT

When a night comes with no hope of breaking dawn...

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

HAPPIER TIMES

Melbourne is in Lockdown (#5!) yet again, as we try and cope with an outbreak of the Delta strain of COVID. As the restrictions tighten, we remember happier times in the past when our city was abuzz with tourists from all nations abroad, sightseeing and taking happy snaps in our city lanes...

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

IN THE CITY

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

WINTER SUN

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

FISH DINNER?

These fish are part of the décor in a restaurant in Melbourne's Southbank entertainment complex. The obvious question for all passers-by is: "Are they just decorative or part of the fresh fish menu?" Not a good question to ask, especially if the fish look at the camera and smile obligingly!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SUNSET

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

SOUTHERN BOUQUET

The flora of South Africa and Australia is very distinctive with quite a few rich botanical families that provide a diverse and amazing bouquet of flowers. The Proteaceae (banksias, grevilleas, waratahs) and Myrtaceae (eucalypts, bottlebrushes, titrees, lillipillis) especially are well represented. 

Australia and New Zealand once formed part of a huge southern land mass now referred to as Gondwanaland, whereas northern hemisphere continents were once aggregated into Laurasia. Gondwanaland and Laurasia began to disaggregate about 160 million years ago. Prior to this time, the southern hemisphere land masses and India were connected into Gondwanaland, while North America, Europe and much of Asia formed Laurasia.

South Africa, Madagascar, India, South America, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Australia and various other fragments broke away and drifted northwards, leaving Antarctica behind. Australia and South America were the last major land masses to separate from Antarctica, Australia beginning slowly about 90 to 100 million years ago and establishing a deep ocean passage some 30 to 40 million years ago. 

Here is a bouquet of the Gondwanaland flowers, readily available in florists throughout the world because of extensive flower exports from both South Africa and Australia.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

RAINY WEATHER

Yes, we are still in the middle of Winter and a couple of days of fine weather should not make us too cocky. A cold and wet morning today, so it was welly and brolly time...

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.