FIREWHEEL

Stenocarpus sinuatus, known as the Firewheel Tree is an Australian rainforest tree in the Proteaceae family. The range of natural distribution is in various rainforest types from the Nambucca River (30° S) in New South Wales to the Atherton Tableland (17° S) in tropical Queensland. However, Stenocarpus sinuatus is widely planted as an ornamental tree in other parts of Australia and in different parts of the world.

Other common names include White Beefwood, Queensland Firewheel Tree, Tulip Flower and White Silky Oak It is a medium to large tree, up to 40 metres tall and 75 cm in trunk diameter. The bark is greyish brown, not smooth and irregular. The base of the cylindrical trunk is flanged. Leaves alternate and variable in shape, simple or pinnatifid, the leaf margins wavy, 12 to 20 cm long. Leaf venation is clearly seen above and below the leaf. Leaves are characteristic and easily identified as part of the Proteaceae family.

The ornamental flowers are bright red in umbels, in a circular formation, hence the name Firewheel Tree. Flowers form mostly between February to March. The fruit is a follicle, in a boat shape, 5 to 10 cm long. Inside are many thin seeds 12 mm long. Fruit matures from January to July. Regeneration from fresh seed occurs speedily. Cuttings also strike well.

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SOARING

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PEEK-A-BOO

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ILLAWARRA FLAME TREE

The tree commonly known as the Illawarra Flame Tree is botanically named Brachychiton acerifolius. It is a striking, semi-deciduous native Australian tree, famous for its spectacular display of vivid red, bell-shaped flowers that often cover the entire tree when it is leafless.

B. acerifolius is very popular as an ornamental tree both in its native Australia and around the world. The flowering is a spectacular event, as the tree sheds its leaves just prior to producing masses of bright scarlet flowers over the entire tree. It is used for street plantings, public parks and gardens, and in private gardens. It is easily grown and may be propagated from seed, cuttings, or by grafting.

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AT SUNSET

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MOONSTRUCK

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BLOOMING WATTLE

Wattles are  trees and shrubs of the Acacia genus, with the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha), shown here, serving as Australia's national floral emblem. Wattles are highly resilient, fast-growing plants that play a crucial role in land regeneration, acting as a "nurse crop" for other plants. They are a powerful symbol of Australian identity and are celebrated on National Wattle Day, September 1st.

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HOT AIR

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CONTRAIL SKY

Spring blossom, blue skies and a speeding jet up high. See the bee?

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MAGNOLIA

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SPRING IS WAITING...

 ...to pounce! The sun was quite warm today in Melbourne and there were lots of Spring flowers about!

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CHIMONANTHUS

Chimonanthus praecox (wintersweet) has been cultivated in China for more than 1,000 years and has been introduced to Japan, Korea, Europe, Australia and the United States. It is a familiar plant in British gardens, where it is grown mainly for its gorgeous scent. The rather insignificant, creamy-yellow, waxy flowers are borne on bare stems from about December to March, with the leaves appearing later.

Long esteemed in China and Japan for its fragrance, many parts of the plant are rich in essential oils and are also used for culinary and medicinal purposes. Wintersweet was introduced to Japan from China during the 17th century, and to Britain, under the name of Calycanthus praecox, a century later. The generic name means "winter-flower', while the specific name means "precocious' as it flowers so early.

It is a deciduous shrub (or sometimes with persistent leaves), up to 3 m high and wide (up to 13 m tall in the wild), with rough, opposite, dark green leaves and small, solitary, highly scented, yellowish flowers borne on short stalks in winter and spring before the leaves appear. The outer petals (tepals) are waxy, almost transparent, in appearance, while the inner tepals are smaller and usually purplish. The flowers are beetle-pollinated.

Named cultivars include Chimonanthus praecox ‘Luteus’, which has slightly larger flowers and yellow inner tepals, and C. praecox ‘Grandiflorus’, a larger shrub, with bigger leaves and larger, but less strongly scented, pure yellow flowers, with red-stained inner tepals.

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MT MORGAN WATTLE

Acacia podalyriifolia is a perennial tree which is fast-growing and widely cultivated. It is native to Australia but is also naturalised in Malaysia, Africa, India and South America. Its uses include environmental management and it is also used as an ornamental tree.

It is very closely related to Acacia uncifera. It grows to about 5 m in height and about the same in total width. It blooms during winter. Common names for it are Mount Morgan wattle, Queensland silver wattle, Queensland wattle, pearl acacia, pearl wattle and silver wattle.

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SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE "COLD MOON"

June is the first month of our Southern Hemisphere Winter here in Melbourne. On June 12th we saw the full moon, called the "Cold Moon". Although we had a fairly cloudy sky last night, the moon did peek through several times allowing photos such as this below to be taken. I used my iPhone for a quick take. The temperature in our garden early this morning was 2˚C.

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MAGNOLIA

Magnolia grandiflora, commonly known as the southern magnolia or bull bay, is a tree of the family Magnoliaceae native to the Southeastern United States, from Virginia to central Florida, and west to East Texas. Reaching 27.5 m in height, it is a large, striking evergreen tree, with large, dark-green leaves up to 20 cm long and 12 cm wide, and large, white, fragrant flowers up to 30 cm in diameter.

Although endemic to the evergreen lowland subtropical forests on the Gulf and South Atlantic coastal plain, M. grandiflora is widely cultivated in warmer areas around the world. The timber is hard and heavy, and has been used commercially to make furniture, pallets, and veneer.

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MORNING (F)LIGHT

Sunrise and the pigeons are waking up around our neighbour's gum tree. A nice view to wake up to.

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SWEET ACACIA

Vachellia farnesiana, also known as Acacia farnesiana, and previously Mimosa farnesiana, commonly known as sweet acacia, huisache, or needle bush, is a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its flowers are used in the perfume industry. The plant's young leaves, flowers, and seed pods are edible raw or cooked. The foliage is a significant source of forage in much of its range, with a protein content around 18%. The tree makes good forage for bees. The seed pods are readily eaten by livestock.

The plant is deciduous over part of its range, but evergreen in most locales. Growing from multiple trunks, it reaches a height of 4.6–9.1 metres. The bark is whitish gray. The base of each leaf is accompanied by a pair of thorns on the branch. The dark brown fruit is a seed pod. The small flowers have five very small petals, almost hidden by the long stamens, and are arranged in dense, globular or cylindrical clusters; they are yellow and highly fragrant.

The flowers are processed through distillation to produce a perfume called cassie, which has been described as "delicious". It is widely used in the perfume industry in Europe. Flowers of the plant provide the perfume essence from which the biologically important sesquiterpenoid farnesol is named. Scented ointments from cassie are made in India.

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SUNRISE FLIGHT

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KURRAJONG

Brachychiton (kurrajong, bottletree) is a genus of 31 species of trees and large shrubs, native to Australia (the centre of diversity, with 30 species) and New Guinea (one species). Fossils from New South Wales and New Zealand are estimated to be 50 million years old, corresponding to the Paleogene.

They grow to 4 – 30m tall, and some are dry-season deciduous. Several species (though not all) are pachycaul plants with a very stout stem for their overall size, used to store water during periods of drought. The leaves show intraspecific variation and generally range from entire to deeply palmately lobed with long slender leaflet-like lobes joined only right at the base. Their sizes range from 4 – 20 cm long and wide. 

All species are monoecious with separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The flowers have a bell-shaped perianth consisting of a single series of fused lobes which is regarded as a calyx despite being brightly coloured in most species. The female flowers have five separate carpels that can each form a woody fruit containing several seeds. The flower colour is often variable within species. Eastern forest species drop their foliage before flowering but those of the drier regions carry the flowers while in leaf.

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SUMMER SKIES

Making hay while the sun shines.

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