Bidjigal Reserve, Baulkham Hills. 5th July 2013

I was able to spend just a couple of hours in Bidjigal Reserve, after a farewell lunch for one of council's Bushland workers who worked out of the Baulkham Hills Community Nursery where I am a volunteer.

There are about 2 dozen terrestrial (ground) orchids listed as growing in this and the adjoining reserves, and I was lucky enough to find 3 of the winter/spring flowering ones.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Epacris sp.  (probably puchella, but hoping for purpurascens)
Could be 1 of 2, still finding out.

Epacris sp.
Pink form of the above.

Fruits of Elaeocarpus reticulatus  -  Blueberry Ash.

Acacia ulicifolia  -  Prickly Moses.

Acianthus fornicatus  -
 Pixie Caps, Pixie Orchid.
One of the terrestrial orchids.

Acianthus fornicatus  -  Pixie Caps, Pixie Orchid.  (as above)
One of the terrestrial orchids.

Lindsaea microphylla  -  Lacy Wedge-fern.

Heartwood and old flower-cone of Banksia serrata both have
a similar star-burst design.

Acacia linifolia  - Flax-leafed Wattle.

Acacia linifolia  - Flax-leafed Wattle.

+

How it got it's name,
Omalanthus populifolius  -  Bleeding Heart.



Persoonia linearis  -  Narrow-leaved Geebung.



Persoonia linearis  -  Narrow-leaved Geebung.
In several stages of pregnancy.

Pterostylis longifolia  -  Tall Greenhood.
One of the terrestrial orchids

Pterostylis longifolia  -  Tall Greenhood.
One of the terrestrial orchids.  (as above).

Acacia suaveolens  -  Sweet Wattle.

Today's fungi.

Pterostylis nutans  -
 Nodding Greenhood, Parrot's Beak Orchid.
One of the terrestrial orchids.

Pterostylis nutans  -
  Nodding Greenhood, Parrot's Beak Orchid.
Growing in 2 inches of leaf litter on large rock.
(apologies for the photo quality)

Pterostylis nutans  -  Nodding Greenhood Orchid

Drosera peltata  -  Pale Sundew, Shield Sundew.

TODAY'S  LANDSCAPE / HABITAT.

Red gum, lichen and moss.

Sydney sandstone bushland saved by being
too steep to build on by early developers.

Houses are behind me on the ridge tops.

'Phantom of The Opera'
Organ pipes and mask in rotting tree stump.

No soil so the tree root just oozes out over
the rock.

Viewed from other side.

And where the trunk flows over the rock,
nearly becoming one.

Unwanted 'wildlife?'.



Bidjigal Reserve, Baulkham Hills. 9th November 2012

On Thursdays I'm a volunteer worker at Baulkham Hills Council's Bidjiwong Community Nursery where I help with the propagation of (mainly) native plants indeginous to the area. These plants are then used in bush regeneration areas, local schools, parks, road-side plantings and as give aways to local residents for their gardens. This week I attended the nursery today (Friday) and so had a restricted 'window' in which to do my usual Flora Friday fling. Adjacent to the nursery is the Bidjigal Reserve, a small area of  protected bushland in suburbia, and this is where todays episode took place.
Since I started doing this Blog, I have had to look into the bush a little harder to find things I haven't noticed before and today 2 plants, Astrotricha latifolia and Marsdenia suaveolens are examples of plants I would have probably not noticed walking through the bush as I use to.

Click here for all todays photos.

Helichrysum diosmifolium  -  Pill Flower / Ball Everlasting.

Angophora costata  -
 Smooth-barked Apple / Sydney Red Gum.
Annual bark shedding, to expose a new
clean face.

Maybe a Goodenia sp.  (G. hederacea ?)

Caesia sp. (?)  Grass Lily.

 The frilly petticoats of
Elaeocarpus reticulatus  -  Blueberry Ash.



 The frilly petticoats of
Elaeocarpus reticulatus  -  Blueberry Ash.

Flowers of Ceratopetalum gummiferum  - 
New South Wales Christmas Bush. The bright red we see
at Christmas are the red fruiting parts, not the flowers. 

Asplenium australasicum  -  Bird's Nest Fern.

Astrotricha latifolia  -  Broad-leaf Star-hair.

Callistemon sp.  -  Bottlebrush 
(possible garden escapee, may not be native to this area?)

Billardiera scandens  -  Apple Berry, Dumplings.

Seeds of Acacia suaveolens  -  Sweet Wattle,
ready to go forth and multiply.

Cassytha sp.  -  Dodder / Devil's Twine.
A parasitic twiner that not only attacks its host but
attacks itself as well. Not the prettiest of plants.

Smilax glyciphylla  -  Native Sasaparilla.
Chewing the leaves give a rush of saliva and
 has an unusual perfumy after taste.
 (yes I've tried it).



Marsdenia suaveolens  -  Scented Milk Vine / Sweet Scented Doubah.



Fire fuel, Angophora leaves and Casuarina needles
cover the ground.

FEATHERS, FUR and FANG.       The Wildlife From Today.




Laughing Kookaburra



A fly from the  Lauxaniidae family.

Sulpher-crested Cockatoo.

Jumping Jack bull ant.

Bee or Wasp?

 THIS WEEK IN THE GARDEN:

Hosta emerging  for its summer showing.



Cyclamin seed pod coiled and ready
to spring into dispersing its seeds.

Kangaroo Paw

Kangaroo Paw

Cordyline stricta



Seed pods of a Lomandra.



The bright red seeds of a Gahnia (Saw Sedge).

Graptophyllum excelsum  -  Scarlet Fushia.

Armeria Maritima  'Sea Pink'.

Geranium 'Khan'

Gladioli buds.

Gladioli  'Margaret Shultz'
(that's who I got it from).