Eucalyptus is one of three similar genera that are commonly referred to as "eucalypts", the others being Corymbia and Angophora. Many species, though by no means all, are known as gum trees because they exude copious kino (plant gum) from any break in the bark.
Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia, and include Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest known flowering plant on Earth. There are more than 700 species of eucalyptus and most are native to Australia; a very small number are found in adjacent areas of New Guinea and Indonesia. One species, Eucalyptus deglupta, ranges as far north as the Philippines. Of the 15 species found outside Australia, just nine are exclusively non-Australian.
This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme.
Pittosporum undulatum is a tree growing to 15m tall with wavy (undulating) leaf edges. It is sometimes also known known as Sweet Pittosporum, Native Daphne, Australian Cheesewood, Victorian Box or Mock Orange. It carries conspicuous orange woody fruits about 1 cm in diameter for several months after flowering in spring or early summer.
Originally Pittosporum undulatum grew in moist areas on the Australian east coast but has increased its range since European settlement. It is a fast grower, and has become a weed in other parts of Australia where it is not indigenous. It is also highly invasive in South Africa, the Caribbean, Hawaii, the Azores and southern Brazil.
The status of P. undulatum around the Sydney area is contentious. Even though it is native to the region, P. undulatum has spread to soils and bushland where it wasn't found before European settlement, often out-competing other plants. It has done especially well in areas where the environment has been altered by humans - for example by habitat fragmentation weakening other natives, by fertiliser runoff from homes increasing soil nutrients and by the suppression of bushfires near suburbs.
During the Australian Spring (September) the tree is covered with a profusion of flowers that are highly fragrant. A sole tree in flower can scent a large area in the neighbourhood, especially during the evening and night. Orange fruits follow the flowers and these then open up to reveal several sticky reddish seeds.
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Weekend Green meme.
Ivanhoe is a suburb of Melbourne, 10 km north-east from Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Banyule. At the 2011 Census, Ivanhoe had a population of 11,085. Upper Heidelberg Road is the suburb's centre, where the former Heidelberg Town Hall, now known as The Centre Ivanhoe, is located. The town hall is a classic 'art-deco' building on top of a hill, with a green neon clockface on a tower.
Upper Heidelberg Road features a newsagent, book store, numerous restaurants and cafés, various banks, real estate agents and two supermarkets. In 2011 the average individual in Ivanhoe earned $728 per week, which was more than the national average of $577 per week. Ivanhoe is renowned for its older style homes, with many dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.
South Wharf is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government areas are the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip. Gazetted in 2008 and formerly part of the industrial and shipping area of Southbank, the renaming is part of a wider urban renewal strategy to link Southbank with the Melbourne Docklands.
South Wharf includes some of Melbourne's landmarks, including the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre and the Melbourne Maritime Museum, with its heritage Polly Woodside. South Wharf is also home to many apartments, shopping outlet Direct Factory Outlets and the 5-star luxury hotel Hilton Melbourne - South Wharf. A five-storey Victorian warehouse, known as the Tea House (at 28 Clarendon Street), built in 1888, is one of the few buildings which survived the redevelopment of the area.
In the photos below, the curved Webb Pedestrian Bridge can be seen, as well as the Two tall pylons of the Bolte Bridge.
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.
The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula, from the Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus Phalangista) is a nocturnal, semi-arboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, it is native to Australia, and the second largest of the possums.
Like most possums, the common brushtail possum is nocturnal. It is mainly a folivore, but has been known to eat small mammals such as rats. In most Australian habitats, leaves of eucalyptus are a significant part of the diet but rarely the sole item eaten. The tail is prehensile and naked on its lower underside. There are four colour variations: silver-grey, brown, black, and gold.
It is the Australian marsupial most often seen by city-dwellers, as it is one of few that thrives in cities, as well as a wide range of natural and human-modified environments. Around human habitations, common brushtails are inventive and determined foragers with a liking for fruit trees, vegetable gardens, and kitchen raids.
The upper two photos are from the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne, where nesting boxes have been installed for these native animals. During the day, these nocturnal creatures snooze the day away in their boxes. We often get raids by possums in our garden at night, where they help themselves to our citrus fruits from our trees, as you can see in the third photo taken under our grapefruit tree.
The coin illustrated in the last photo is a 2013 silver non-circulating 50 cent coin issued by the Perth mint. The image on the reverse features a realistically-coloured baby possum, with big, brown eyes. It perches in the vegetation as an insect wanders by in the background. The “P” mint mark of the Perth Mint is tucked under the branch the possum sits on. In the upper right border is the legend, “Australian Possum.”
The common brushtail possum was introduced to New Zealand in 1837 to establish a fur industry, but in the mild subtropical climate of New Zealand, and with few to no natural predators, it thrived to the extent that it became a major agricultural and conservation pest.
This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.
