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Articles
Pindan Post 91
Pindan Post No 91
631 words
A fabulous March, weather-wise, has ensured that the dry season from April to next December will be another good show of flowers and abundant fruits. Just a few days after the rain stopped and many Acacias around Broome burst into spectacular flower, most on the same day. The most striking are the large Elephant Ear Wattles, Acacia dunnii, with fantastic clusters of large bright yellow ball flowers on the end of every branch. On some, the flowers were almost able to completely hide the unusual large grey phyllodes (leaves) and chalky white trunks. This species grows to six metres and can be found in many North Kimberley locations and are rarely seen flowering as most roads in the region remain closed at this time of year. A related wattle that grows to eight metres, and has a green to brown trunk, Acacia sericata, also began flowering on the same day. Easily identified due to the green sericeous or silky phyllodes, particularly on new growth, this species from the Prince Regent area has large flat woody seedpods almost identical to Acacia dunnii. The flowers, however, are cream to pale yellow and have a strong sweet aroma. There are approximately 6 species of this related group of wattles with large flat pods found in the Kimberley, with one being quite common around the Dampier Peninsular. The Ghost Wattle, Acacia platycarpa is also flowering. It too has sweet scented flowers but the racemes are of large white ball flowers on the end of each branch. The trunk grows to six metres and is fibrous and dark, and the phyllodes are dark green, leathery, and have an unusual pattern of raised veins over the surface. These species were seen abundantly flowering 3 or 4 times during the wet season along Herbert Street. Many other species of wattles have been in constant flower all through the wet season and are found in hundreds of gardens around town and in many public gardens. The most common of these is Acacia stellaticeps, the Poverty Bush, recently renamed from Acacia translucens due to this species being split into about five new species due to various small differences seen by botanists. This species is common in the West Kimberley and has become a popular garden plant due to its compact 2 metre height and width, small dark green phyllodes and numerous yellow ball flowers. A related species from the top of the King Sound area, including islands, is Acacia wickhamii, and differs in having yellow rod flowers instead of balls. Another popular wattle is Acacia kelleri, from the central and northern Kimberley that grows to between 4 and 7 metres. This species has short narrow phyllodes in whorls around the stem and can be pruned to form a hedge structure or left to have long weeping branches that is very attractive. Flowering continuously with yellow cylinders that eventually results in cylindrical black seed pods, this species has been growing strongly in the bush garden in front of the Water authority offices along Port Drive for a few years. Grevilleas have also been showing off their magnificent flowers in many gardens over the ‘wet’. Grevillea dryandri with large spikes of red flowers and Grevillea formosa with sprays of yellow flowers are reaching their peak at the moment. They both have fine soft foliage and grow to 2 metres and can be quite spreading. These are often found in gardens with the wattles mentioned earlier. A very stunning Kimberley Hibiscus has been showing off every day in Herbert Street with very large pink flowers. This species, Hibiscus setulosus, produces several new blooms every day. It has a prickly habit though and the leaves are large, lobed, oval and sandpaper-like to touch, while the fruiting capsules are very prickly. 05/04
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