Plants

Eucalyptus gomphocephala is a species of tree, also known as Tuart, in the genus Eucalyptus. Native to the southwest of Western Australia the tree grows to over 35m tall. As a result of its value as a timber, most of the tuart forest has now been cleared. The only remaining tall tuart forest is the Ludlow Tuart Forest now protected by the Tuart Forest National Park.

The Red Tingle (Eucalyptus jacksonii) of south west Western Australia is one of the tallest trees in the state and can measure up to 16 metres round at the base and grow to a height of 60 metres and live for up to 400 years. Forest fires often act to hollow out the base of the trees creating a large cavity. They are found primarily in Walpole-Nornalup National Park, where they are featured in the Valley of the Giants skywalk

Elythranthera brunonis, also known as Purple Enamel Orchid, is a species of orchid which is endemic to Western Australia. This wildflower has shiny purple flowers with an approximate size of 3–4 cm.

West Australian Orchids by Emily Pelloe. “Half hiding, half peeping, the orchids appear”

Illustration of sixteen West Australian orchids from the genus Caladenia, by Emily Pelloe.

Illustration of nine West Australian orchids, by Emily Pelloe.

Illustration of fourteen West Australian orchids, by Emily Pelloe.

Orchids are usually termed the aristocrats of plant life. The presence of over 130 species in Western Australia adds considerable interest to the study of her magnificent and world-famous flora.

The order or family Orchidaceae was originally defined by Haller in the 18th Century, its name being adapted from the root of Orchis, a well-known genus in the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere. It belongs to the group of plants known as monocotyledons, which have seeds generating in a single lobe, and with few exceptions, parallel-veined leaves. The Orchidaceae family is a very large one, represented in the world by over 400 genera and many thousands of species, especially abundant in the Tropics, and rare in the Arctic regions.

West Australian orchids, which are practically all terrestrial, cannot be compared to some found in Brazil, the Malay States, India, and other tropical places, for size, vividness of colour, and bizarre marking.  … Read more

Orchids, like all other classified plants, have two names. The first, usually of Greek derivation, denotes the genus to which it belongs, and the second, generally a Latin word, the species. In some cases personal names commemorating distinguished botanists and others have been used, but the names, when translated, usually indicate some characteristic of genus or the species. “Why not simple English names?” is a question often asked that can be best explained, perhaps, by mentioning the fact that science knows no nationality. A great deal of West Australian botanical collection, research classification, has been done by foreign enthusiasts. It is a good thing the custom exists of using a common dead language such as Greek or Latin, for purposes of scientific nomenclature.  ... Read more

The chief characteristic of an orchid flower is the column, composed of the united male and female generative organs, stamens and pistil, and bearing upon it a small button-like projection known as the rostellum, covered, like the stigma, with a sticky glue like substance attractive to insects.

Orchids are fertilised by pollen-grains falling from the anther on to the stigma, or being deposited upon it by pollen bearing insects visiting the flower. Should the rostellum be touched by an insect (or even for purposes of experiment with a pin) the pollen masses are released from the anther at the top of the column. The column often bears wing-like, semi-transparent appendages that assist in the direction of insects to the rostellum.

At the base of the column is the ovary or seed capsule.  … Read more