I love how living in the Bush Capital allows us to get into the great outdoors so easily. Earlier this week, suffering from cabin fever after dealing with a few domestic frustrations, Mr M and I headed off late in the afternoon with no real plan and ended up at Pine Island, a picnic area on the Murrumbidgee River. Until the firestorm of 2003 the carpark at the top of the hill had been surrounded by a radiata pine (pinus) plantation and I had always assumed that was the source of the name but I have seen it suggested that it in fact refers to the black cypress pines (callitris) found on the island in the river. I haven't found any more information about that yet, but it was fun googling. It doesn't take much for me to meander off at tangents, I used to do that with encyclopedias and now with the internet it's even better! I also tried to google the plants I saw flowering but so far haven't identified them. Oh dear, please excuse the lack of information. But the piccies are nice!
4 comments:
Hi Mac
I used go Bird Banding at Pine Island with my father in about 1963. (I'll bet that makes you feel like you are reading a note from a Dinosaur.)
Pine Island is a key point for Honeyeater migrations - from the Brindabella and Tidbinbilla ranges to the coastal heath country.
Lots of Grevilleas used grow in the river bed.
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Fire devastated the area, of course, but Grevilleas usually survive fire by new plants springing up from seed.
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Your first 3 "flowers" are a Pimelia, a Dodonea (Hop Bush), and one of the very many "Eggs and Bacon" Pea flowers - but not sure even of a genus. Its all in the minute details of flower shape.
Last one is a puzzle. Maybe a juvenile Acacia growing amongst rocks???
Nice memories for me (of Pine Island).
Thanks
Denis
Hi Denis. Thank you so much for that information!
The picnic table and the broad vista showing the mountains, reminds me of some of the mountain areas in the SW USA, except I bet many of those trees forming a savanna are not oaks...Eucalyptus?
Hi Desert Dweller, thanks for visiting. Yes, it's mostly eucalypts, with some acacias and casuarinas (also known as she-oaks).
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