PINK FAIRY

(Caladenia latifolia)

This is a small, pretty, erect orchid 15-30cm tall; you can find it around from August to October. The flowers have 5 outer petals, with a 6^th petal in the centre being modified to form a tongue with three lobes. Two of these lobes are rounded, the middle (third) one is that pointy bit of the tongue. The outer petals are bright pink (hence the name!); the tongue petal, though, is multi-coloured. There is an orange tinge to it, and some orange bumps (these are glands) while a fringe on the tongue is white. The outer edge of the flower is a bit hairy, but the long, lance-shaped leaves are REALLY hairy all over, front and back! The stem holding the flower up high is also hairy. We’ve seen these orchids at Cape Jervis, but also in the Adelaide Hills. Maybe there are some near you!

KIKUYU

(Pennisetum clandestinum)

(Photos: E. Cousins, a patch of kikuyu, one stem, close-up of sheaf and hairs on leaf; Cape Jervis)

Kikuyu is well-known by many as a hardy grass for lawns. This hardy African perennial can withstand the backyard cricket matches, and survive just about any summer. It’ll also spread readily along roadsides or over vacant land with a two-pronged attack: using above-ground creeping stems (called ‘stolons’) and below-ground ones (called ‘rhizomes’). The stolons form a mat with short, folded leaf blades and many joints. Each leaf forms a sheaf around the stem before branching off; leaves can be slightly hairy, and get coarse as they age.  Although essentially prostrate, put a barrier in its way, such as a fence or tree stump, and the kikuyu will climb all over and possibly through it! The stolons and rhizomes are extremely effective at spreading kikuyu (more so than its seed), one reason kikuyu has been labelled an environmental weed in S.A.

DWARF GREEN-HOOD

(Pterostylis nana)

(Photos:E. Cousins, flower spike, front and side views)

You often find these in colonies, flowering from July to October, so start watching for them now!   Look for a rosette of leaves at the base. You will find 4-8 thickish leaves, all with smooth edges and short little stems. The leaves are oval in shape, up to 2cm long, grey-green and often flat on the ground. The lovely green and white striped flowers are on stems up to 10cm tall, but they themselves are only 1-1.5cm long. They are held erect on the stalk. Parts of the flower have great names. The green hood, for instance, is called the ‘galea’, and those long ears or wings sitting either side of the galea are called ‘lateral sepals’. And just in case you are wondering, the bump at the stem end of the flower is the ovary. These look absolutely delightful when you find them in the bush…just don’t tread or kneel on them when you go to take a photo!

COASTAL UMBRELLA BUSH

(Acacia cupularis)

(Photos:C. Schultz, habitat, phyllodes;  https://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/phtml?pc=dig&pn=849. flowers)

This little wattle should be flowering shortly; look for it from July into early summer. Although it can grow to about 2m, don’t expect it to be more than 75cm high at Cape Jervis, even though it likes sandy soils and limestone! It is a rounded shrub with an open growth habit. Older branches are grey, younger ones more reddish-brown. The phyllodes (foliage, not true leaves) are about 7cm long and very thin (4mm wide) with a central tip. There is a central rib, and if you look carefully, you might see 2 or 3 small glands on the edges. It takes about 20 little golden flowers to form a flower ball, with 2 or 3 balls grouped together on short stalks. Long, thin brown seed pods follow the flowers in summer. The seeds inside are small at 3-5mm. The pods look ‘nipped in’ between the seeds, and break open readily at these points.  

FLINDERS RANGES WATTLE

(Acacia iteaphylla)

(Photos: E. Cousins, growth habit, phyllodes and glands, flower clusters; Cape Jervis)

Originally from the Flinders Ranges and Eyre Peninsula, this shrub is now a bit of a pest in parts of Australia, and indeed has been declared an environmental weed in some…probably because its seeds remain viable for long periods, and germinate readily! Being from an arid region, it is also very hardy. It is fast growing to about 2-4 m tall, with upright branches and attractive bluey grey-green foliage. The foliage is not made up of true leaves, but like many acacias, phyllodes (see 2nd photo).These are very narrow and long (50-100mm), with a little gland at the base. They occur alternately along the stems. The perfumed, lemon-yellow flower balls occur in clusters, mainly in spring. These are followed by blue-green seed pods that go brown in maturity. Pretty shrub, but can be a problem!

WINDMILL GRASS

(Chloris truncata)

BURR MEDIC

(Medicago polymorpha)

(Photos: E. Cousins; habit, closer view of leaves and fruit.)

This small creeping plant from the pea family can be used as a pasture crop, but it can become a weed in some habitats. It is a prostrate (flat to the ground) annual, though it can climb slightly through nearby plants. The multiple stems are green to slightly red, and can be up to 50cm long. The leaves occur in groups of 3 leaflets at the end of short stalks. The centre leaflet has the longest stalk (an identification key used for distinguishing medics from similar plants). Leaflets can be heart or wedge-shaped, as seen above, with finely toothed margins near the tip. Pea-like yellow flowers appear in spring, to be followed by the fruits. These are like little coiled pods, disc or barrel-shaped, 3-4mm wide, with hooked spines (see second photo) all over.

BUCKBUSH or ROLYPOLY

(Salsola australis)

   (Photo: E. Cousins, Cape Jervis; plant, close-up of a flower on a ridged stem)

This prickly little flowering annual can grow into a ball about knee high, bright green where a lot of the local plants are a duller colour. The hard stems are really ridged, as seen in the second photo. There you can also see the needle-like tips on the small, cylindrical leaves, making the plant feel spiky. Notice also the papery, cream disk there too? That is a fruit. It has a flattened wing all around, with 5 lobes; the fruit is protected by 3 leaves under it. The plant can break off at ground level and blow away like tumbleweed, dispersing the seeds in the fruit. These seeds then germinate from autumn to winter, with new plants flowering in spring-summer. Earlier called Salsola tragus, buckthorn has been renamed Salsola australis after some detective work by SA Herbarium experts. ‘Salsola’ itself is from the Latin word for ‘salty’.

ELEGANT SPEAR-GRASS

(Austrostipa elegantissima)

(Photo: E. Cousins, Cape Jervis; feathery fronds overhanging another bush, plant in full bloom in November)

Looking for a showy, clumping grass for a coastal garden? This one is a beauty when in bloom, normally from August to January, because of its misty look. It is a perennial, tufted native grass, growing up to 1m tall from a small rhizome underground. It often likes to grow near shrubs whose foliage will help support the flower stems and the narrow (up to 3mm) leaves, as in the first photo above. The open, diffuse flower heads seem to shimmer in sunlight, because of the long silky hairs on them (see 1st photo again). The flowers have a long, bent stalk, tipped with a bristle (or awn); the stalk itself has one very pronounced bend, and another less obvious second one. This arrangement helps the seed to bury itself in the ground, after clusters of the seed heads are dispersed by being blown off in the breeze.