Saturday, August 29, 2015

Wallum Wildflower Walk



Wallum is an Australian ecosystem of coastal south-east Queensland characterised by flora-rich shrubland and heathland on deep, nutrient-poor, acidic, sandy soil. Seasonal changes in the water table due to rainfall create swamps. (so says Wikipedia)

Apparently, the wildflower walk is an annual event, part of a number of nature walks in the area to mark the start of spring (which officially starts in 2 days).

I was well prepared - sunscreen, water bottle, rain jacket & camera in my backpack. Joggers on my feet.

I should have worn gum boots.

It had rained the night before our walk.... and I don't mean a couple of showers - good hard rain, so I could just as easily call it a swamp walk. In fact the route arranged had to be changed because the water over the path was too deep.

It was still fun and I saw wildflowers I'd never seen before.

Many are very tiny and delicate, like this Sprengelia sprengelioides.

We were given a pamphlet with photos plus many plants were tagged.


I noticed the labels were dry so someone had been around in the morning before our walk and placed each label.

Patersonia sericea - the native iris. The plants only grow to 40cm high . You can see how tiny the are relative to my soggy joggers.


Looking up - Banksia


Looking down - Sphagnum moss


Wallum Wedge Pea


Swamp Pea


Common Sundew - a carnivorous plant. The largest was about 4cm diameter. They grow on the ground and live on small insects.


Wallum Boronia


Leptospermum polygalifolium 


Burchardia umbellata - Milkmaids


Sowerbaea juncea - Vanilla Lily

Epacris - Bell Heath

One of the organisers explained that some years ago, the parcel of land we were walking over was to be developed for a housing estate. A group of people fought in the courts to have it declared protected. They won and eventually it was made a National Park. 

I'm so glad they did.

These were a very small selection of the wildflowers that were within a few feet of our path - I haven't posted all the pictures I took, some flowers I didn't photograph and some I did try but they were out of focus. 

These are not bright showy plants. Most are tiny and delicate- but beautiful plus many are unique to this region. 

As you can see from the photo below, if the organisers hadn't marked some of the plants with tape, I may have walked right by.



   Dry track

Wet track


2 comments:

  1. Having the plants labelled is such a great idea for a walk like this! Thank you for taking us along. I enjoyed seeing what grows in your neck of the woods.

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  2. Looks like an interesting and educational walk. My garden buddies and I try to go on some kind of outdoor hike at least once a year...it hasn't happened this year yet!

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