Peaceful woodlands of widely spaced gnarled Eucalypts lie in mosaic with spiny, scratchy, shrubby heath on the sand-plains north of Perth. They form one of the most floristically diverse regions on earth, with estimates of over 60 species of plant per 0.01 ha (an area smaller than half an an IMAX screen).

With so many species packed on top of one another, it is perhaps not surprising that in the effort to co-exist, some plants have been forced to flower outside the traditional Spring-flowering window. Winter in the sand-plains, while often wet and cloudy, is therefore anything but dull. While daily insect activity is very low, resident birds and honey possums must still feed, and so there are a comparatively high number of vertebrate-pollinated species in full flower at this time of year.

Omphalina chromacea in its diminutive but sulphureous glory

Bird-pollinated Astroloma glaucenscens excludes insect visitors with a tiny corolla-tube opening

Pterostylis sanguinea: a sexually-deceptive trap-pollination orchid

Astroloma stomarrhena, bird-pollinated. This individual has curiously short corolla tubes.

Calothamnus sanguineus mixed in with Conostephium

Calothamnus sanguineus

An early-flowering Caladenia latifolia

Diuris corymbosa

Tiny pgymy Drosera

One of the most common orchids in the area, but I’ve never seen it flower. Pyrorchis leaf.

Very rare, and while this specimen is a little tired late in the season, the winter-flowering Cleopatra’s Needles (Thelymitra apiculata) is a stunning contrast of hues.