TREES ARE LIFE

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

Question 1: "When is the best time to plant a tree?"
Answer 1: "Twenty years ago."
Question 2 "The second-best time?"
Answer 2: "Today..."

PARKLANDS POND

At the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne, Spring smiles.

This post is part of the Weekend Green meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

SUNSET SKIES

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.

MELBOURNE WEEDS 8 - MALLOW

Malva sylvestris is a species of the mallow genus Malva in the family of Malvaceae and is considered to be the type species for the genus. Known as common mallow to English-speaking Europeans, it acquired the common names of cheeses, high mallow and tall mallow (mauve des bois by the French) as it migrated from its native home in Western Europe, North Africa and Asia through the English-speaking world. M. sylvestris is a vigorously healthy plant with showy flowers of bright mauve-purple, with dark veins; a handsome plant, often standing 1 m high and growing freely in fields, hedgerows and in fallow fields.

Malva sylvestris is a spreading herb, which is an annual in North Africa, biennial in the Mediterranean and a perennial elsewhere. It is about one meter tall, with a growth habit which can be straight or decumbent, branched and covered with fine soft hairs or none at all, M. sylvestris is pleasing in appearance when it first starts to flower, but as the summer advances, the leaves lose their deep green colour and the stems assume a ragged appearance.

The leaves are borne upon the stem, are roundish, and have three to seven, or five to nine shallow lobes, each 2 to 4 centimetres long, 2 to 5 centimetres wide and 5 to 10 centimetres in diameter. Downy, with hairs radiating from a common centre and prominent veins on the underside. Petiole either 2 to 6 centimetres or 2 to 13 centimetres long.

The flowers are reddish-purple, bright pinkish-purple with dark stripes or bright mauve-purple, and appear in axillary clusters of 2 to 4 and form irregularly and elongated along the main stem with the flowers at the base opening first. M. sylvestris has an epicalyx (or false calyx) with oblong segments, two-thirds as long as calyx or 2–3 millimetres long and 1.5 millimetres wide. Its calyx is free to the middle, 3–6 millimetres long, with broadly triangular lobes or ovate mostly 5–7 millimetres long. The flowers are 2–4 times as long as the calyx. Petals are wrinkly to veined on the backs, more than 20 millimetres long or 15 to 25 millimetres long and 1 centimetre wide, egg-shaped, margin notched with a fringe of hairlike projections. Slender flower stalks that are either 2 centimetres long or 1 to 3 centimetres long. Ten broad carpels in axillary clusters; stamen about 3 millimetres long, radiating from the centre with short soft hairs.

In distribution as a native Malva sylvestris spreads itself on waste and rough ground, by roads and railways throughout lowland England, Wales and Channel Islands, Siberia and scattered elsewhere. It has been introduced to and has become naturalised in eastern Australia, in the United States, Canada and Mexico probably escaped from cultivation.

M. sylvestris has been used medicinally since ancient times, and is still used in modern phytotherapy. Mucilage is present in many of the Malvaceae family including M. sylvestris, especially the fruit. The seeds are used internally in a decoction or herbal tea as a demulcent and diuretic, and the leaves made into poultices as an emollient for external applications. Mallow can also be taken internally for its laxative effect. In 1931 Maud Grieve wrote that the "use of this species of Mallow has been much superseded by Marsh Mallow (Althaea officinalis), which possesses its valuable properties in a superior degree, but it is still a favourite remedy with country people where Marsh Mallow is not obtainable."

The plant is edible and nutritious as food. The young leaves when boiled is a wholesome vegetable and was eaten in several parts of Europe in the 19th century. It is still used as such in Turkey, Greece and Southern Italy. The young tender tops and leaves are stewed with other herbs and wild greens and used with spinach to make pie fillings (see here).

In the language of flowers, a stem of non-flowering mallow conveys the meaning "you soothe my wild temper". A flowering stem indicates: "You are of mild manner and gentle demeanour".

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MELBOURNE MOOD

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.

YARRA RIVER, NIGHT

Melbourne always puts on a good show at night, the Yarra River acting as a great reflecting mirror for the City lights.

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.

SEPTEMBER TESSELLATION

Tessellation:  An arrangement of shapes closely fitted together, especially of polygons in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping.

The images in the tessellation are all from photos I took last month in the Darebin Parklands.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

MELBOURNE TRASH...

Thankfully, is mostly confined to few locations; most of our city is quite clean!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

BIRDS IN THE DAREBIN PARKLANDS

The Darebin Parklands in Fairfield are home to a large variety of native birds. Here are some of them, photographed in Spring.

This post is part of the Weekend Green meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the I'd Rather Be Birdin' meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

The red-rumped parrot (Psephotus haematonotus), also known as the red-backed parrot or grass parrot, is a common bird of south-eastern Australia (male)

The galah (Eolophus roseicapilla), also known as the rose-breasted cockatoo, galah cockatoo, roseate cockatoo or pink and grey, is one of the most common and widespread cockatoos, and it can be found in open country in almost all parts of mainland Australia.

The Australian wood duck, maned duck or maned goose (Chenonetta jubata) is a dabbling duck found throughout much of Australia (female top; male bottom)

The masked lapwing (Vanellus miles), also known as the masked plover and often called the spur-winged plover or just plover in its native range, is a large, common and conspicuous bird native to Australia, particularly the northern and eastern parts of the continent, New Zealand and New Guinea

The common bronzewing (Phaps chalcoptera) is a species of medium-sized, heavily built pigeon. Native to Australia and one of the country's most common pigeons, the common bronzewing is able to live in almost any habitat (male)

The eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius) is a rosella native to southeast of the Australian continent and to Tasmania

The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus) is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas

On the right is the the little pied cormorant, little shag or kawaupaka (Microcarbo melanoleucos) is a common Australasian waterbird, found around the coasts, islands, estuaries, and inland waters of Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. On the left is a noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala), which is a bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, and is endemic to eastern and south-eastern Australia

The Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen) is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea

The Australian white ibis (Threskiornis moluccus) is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia

The Australasian swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus), family Rallidae, is a species of swamphen occurring in eastern Indonesia, the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands, as well as in Papua New Guinea and Australia. It is also found in New Zealand where it is known as the Pūkeko, derived from the Māori language

PARKLANDS POND

Duck pond at the Darebin Parklands one fine Spring day.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.