Sugarloaf.... sweet as!

Ahhhh spring.... with its unpredictable wild, windy and most importantly RAINY weather, it presents me with an abundance of opportunities to SLACK OFF WORK. This time around I managed to spend an entire hour wandering aimlessly through the Sugarloaf/Harold Reid reserve in Middle Cove. Flowers everywhere... Pultenaea stipularis, Patersonia sericea, Xylomelum pyriforme, Lambertia formosa, Comesperma ericinum and all the old faithfuls were there goin' crazy. However, the really awesome find of the day was the seldom seen Erythrorchis cassythoides (Black Bootlace Orchid). This dude is a leafless, climbing orchid, utilising tiny little hooks to get to get around and feeding on dead organic matter. Out of the three large specimens I spotted, one was about 2m off the ground and flowering profusely. Check it out!

                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                     
                                                                                     

It really is quite spectacular!









                                 

  The leafless stem arises from the ground
                                                                        
                   

   
   









                                    Pultenaea stipularis is very common,
though no less attractive.

Xylomelum pyriforme trunk showing characteristic flaky/scaly bark and holly-like juvenile leaves. The prominent venation is handy for ID.




Have to wait a while to get a snap of the fruit, which looks like a woody pear (hence the common name Woody Pear)

This is one sexy tree... notoriously difficult to propagate... nuts.

 

This is the nicest small specimen I have seen of this plant. Thanks to the dude from Willoughby Council who pointed it out to me. Cheers!