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).