Dongara - Flora & Fauna 3

DONGARA FLORA & FAUNA

by Br W H van Veen sac

Part 3

Some of the natural vegetation at Brennand Rd
Flowering Acacia

Acacia rostilifera is the most common wattle on the dune behind the house.

Wattles make up a third of the vegetation on the dune. It starts flowering in September and can grow up to 4m and belongs to the suckering variety.

Ptitotus

Among the wattles grows the Ptitotus species. The plants of this family indigenous to Western Australia are some of the manifold species of Ptilotus but the Gomphrena is confined to the tropical north. This species flowers from spring to summer.

Red-centered Hibiscus

There is one Red-centered Hibiscus flowering at the lower part of the dune. The bush starts flowering in September. This native hibiscus generally opens only partly to let in the insects pollinating it. The hibiscus is common.

Clematis

The pure white flowering Clematis is a common climber in this coastal areas. It attains a height of 2.5 to 3 metres, climbing over rocks and as here, over shrubs. The name Clematis is derived from the Greek klema, a vine or shoot.

Clematis pubescens is also known as “Old man's Beard”. On the dune it flowers in July.

Diplolaena

The genus Diplolaena contains six species. It has numerous insignificant flowers which are crowded into heads surrounded by petal-like bracts. The whole resembles a single flower.

An example is this lesser diplolaena an aromatic tomentose shrub to 1.5 m tall. It grows on the lower part of the dune.

Berry Saltbush

The Berry Saltbush is also part of the dune vegetation and I have seen it growing at the beach. It is a dioecious straggling shrub up to 3 m. The female flower has red or pink sepals which later surround the fleshy fruit. The male flowers are inconspicuous.

Mistletoes

The mistletoes became established in Australia in great number and variety, and have undergone considerable evolutionary radiation during the past 60 million years.

There are 62 mistletoes in Australia, 55 of them endemic. Mistletoes are parasitic and are seen on wattles, eucalypts, sheoaks, kurrajongs and Grevilleas. Over 20 species occur in W.A.

Hibbertia gloherosa

This is a shrub to 40 cm tall and the flowers are 2 cm across with many stamens united into bundles. Only two species grow in certain area on the property.

All Hibbertia’s are shrubs or sub-shrubs and as much at home on the inland sandheaths as they are in the shady forest.

Ptitotus
		Among the wattles grows the Ptitotus species. The plants of this family indigenous to Western Australia are some of the manifold species of Ptilotus but the Gomphrena is confined to the tropical north. This species flowers from spring to summer.

Red-centered Hibiscus
There is one Red-centered Hibiscus flowering at the lower part of the dune. The bush starts flowering in September. This native hibiscus generally opens only partly to let in the insects pollinating it. The hibiscus is common.

Clematis
		The pure white flowering Clematis is a common climber in this coastal areas. It attains a height of 2.5 to 3 metres, climbing over rocks and as here, over shrubs. The name Clematis is derived from the Greek klema, a vine or shoot. Clematis pubescens is also known as “Old man's Beard”. On the dune it flowers in July.

Diplolaena
The genus Diplolaena contains six species. It has numerous insignificant flowers which are crowded into heads surrounded by petal-like bracts. The whole resembles a single flower. An example is this lesser diplolaena an aromatic tomentose shrub to 1.5 m tall. It grows on the lower part of the dune.

Berry Saltbush
		The Berry Saltbush is also part of the dune vegetation and I have seen it growing at the beach. It is a dioecious straggling shrub up to 3 m. The female flower has red or pink sepals which later surround the fleshy fruit. The male flowers are inconspicuous.