Summer
Viewing the meaning of botanical words To view the meaning of botanical words, hold the cursor on the blue word and the meaning will appear in a text box.
Based on Debenham C’s, The Language of Botany, A Publication of The Society for Growing Australian Plants, Chipping Norton NSW, c.1962.
Bursaria spinosa
Botanical Name: Bursaria spinosa
Commonly Called: Prickly box
Botanical Family: Pittosporaceae
Grows: A tall shrub growing 3 to 5m high by 2 to 3m wide.
Foliage: The leaves are bright glossy green above lighter below, blunt wedge-shaped, arranged alternately along the branches. Spikes also grow along the branches and on the tip of branchlets.
Flowers: The 5-petalled white, star-shaped flowers have central protruding stamens. The flowers are arranged in a terminal pyramid.
Flowering Season: The flowers brighten the bush during summer.
Fruit: The fruit is a bilobed, flat, heart-shaped capsule.
Habitat/distribution: This species is widespread, common in coastal sandy gravel areas, extending inland to wet sclerophyll. It is also found in WA, SA, Vic, NSW and Q.
Where found: Most National Parks; Wellington Park; Knocklofty and Coningham Reserves; Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens; Tasmanian Bushland Garden, Buckland; and The Tasmanian Arboretum, Eugenana; also many home gardens.
Other notes: Woody shrub to small tree with the smaller branches and side stems ending as spikes. The horticultural potential of this plant lies in its ability to attract bees, butterflies and birds with its sweet-scented flowers.
It is also a good coastal revegetation plant and can be trimmed to a hedge. This compact, dark green shrub with masses of white summer flowers usually humming with bees, and heart-shaped fruit make it easily recognised in the bush or garden.
The sharp spikes on its branchlets make it a safe haven for small nesting birds which have been known to use white domestic hen feathers to line and camouflage their nests during flowering time.
Chrysocephalum semipapposum
Botanical Name: Chrysocephalum semipapposum subsp. semipapposum
Commonly Called: Clustered everlasting
Botanical Family: Asteraceae
Grows: 20-90cm H x 40-90cm W
Foliage: Crowded, small, narrow linear, green to silvery grey, hairy, on side stems, sometimes sticky.
Flowers: Terminal, bright yellow in dense flattened clusters.
Flowering Season: Flowers may be seen during spring through summer.
Fruit: An achene.
Habitat/distribution: Widespread and common in open grasslands. Also SA, Vic, NSW.
Where found: Saltwater River area on Tasman Peninsula, Derwent Valley areas: Meadowbank Dam Road, Macquarie Plains, New Norfolk; Black Hills Church and Cemetery Reserve, Braslins Road, Black Hills; Sky Farm, Glenorchy; Windermere Bay, Claremont; Knocklofty Reserve; East Risdon Nature Reserve; Caves Hill, Meehan Range;
Grasstree Road, W of Back Tea Tree Road; Near Tunnack; Bluff River Gorge; Shannon River downstream of Hermitage; Lakes Highway 15km N of Bothwell; Gangells Road, Bagdad; Perth Nursery, Picnic Point; Slopes above South Esk, Native Point; Watery Plains, Launceston;
Township Lagoon Nature Reserve; Kingston via Conara; Avoca; Buckland; Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens; and Tasmanian Bushland Garden, Buckland; also some home gardens and other locations.
Other notes: An upright variable perennial herb with flattish topped clusters of bright yellow flower heads on erect stems compared to the rounded golden flower heads of Chrysocephalum apiculatum. A hardy plant for dry areas in full sun. Prune to ground level after flowering to promote growth from the woody rhizome.
Coronidium scorpioides
Botanical Name: Coronidium scorpioides
Commonly Called: Curling everlasting
Botanical Family: Asteraceae
Grows: 10-80cm H x 50-75cm W
Foliage: Crowded at the base, more widely spaced on the flower stem, grey-green, soft, usually cottony hairs on both surfaces.
Flowers: Solitary yellow flower heads, 2 to 3cm across, the central part surrounded by curled papery bracts.
Flowering Season: Late spring/summer.
Fruit: An achene.
Habitat/distribution: Widespread in understorey in a variety of habitats from sea level to alpine. Also SA, Vic, NSW.
Where found: Throughout Tasmania: Cradle Mountain & Lake St Clair, Hartz, Mt Field, Rocky Cape, South West and Tasman National Parks; King and some Furneaux, Maria and Bruny Islands; Bluff River Gorge, Bridport Wildflower, Cheltenham , Orford Thumbs, Peter Murrell, Meehan Ranges, Wellington Park and many other Reserves;
Heritage Forest Tasmanian Native Garden; Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens; Tasmanian Bushland Garden, Buckland; and The Tasmanian Arboretum, Eugenana; also many home gardens.
Other notes: A stoloniferous perennial herb with conspicuous, solitary yellow daisy flowers with curling papery phyllaries (bracts). A hardy spreading ground cover. Prune after flowering to maintain carpet effect.
Dianella tasmanica
Botanical Name: Dianella tasmanica
Commonly Called: Forest flaxlily
Botanical Family: Liliaceae
Grows: 50-150cm
Foliage: The leaves are broad, linear, strap-like and Y-shaped in cross section to 1m long. They are distinctly serrated along the edges and undersurface of central veins.
Flowers: The flowers are loosely clustered on long stalks with strong many branched stems. They have 6 small white or mainly blue petals and prominent yellow stamens.
Flowering Season: The flowers appear in spring and summer months.
Fruit: The fruit are blue to purple shiny berries, containing many black seeds.
Habitat/distribution: This species is wide spread from coast to 800m as a common understorey plant in wet sclerophyll and rainforests. It is also found in Vic and NSW.
Where found: Throughout Tasmania especially in shady moist positions. Bass Strait, Maria and Bruny Islands; Ben Lomond NP entrance, Cradle Mountain/Lake St Claire, Mt Field, Narawntapu, Rocky Cape and Tasman National Parks;
Bluff River Gorge, Bridport Wildflower, Knocklofty, Orford, Peter Murrell, Wellington Park, Wielangta Forest and many other Reserves; many other places such as Cockle Creek, Dunbarton, Mole Creek area, McKays Road near Lake Leake Rd Swansea area, Tullah area and Pieman River near Smithton; Heritage Forest Tasmanian Native Garden, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Tasmanian Bushland Garden Buckland and The Tasmanian Arboretum Eugenana; also many home gardens.
Other notes: A herbaceous perennial spreading by rhizomes and may form a dense clump. It has excellent horticultural potential and may be useful as a riparian or bank stabiliser due to the spreading rhizomes.
Eryngium ovinum
Botanical Name: Eryngium ovinum
Commonly Called: Blue devil
Botanical Family: Apiaceae
Grows: 40-70cm H x 40-80cm W
Foliage: The narrow, elliptical, variable leaves are 1 to 4cm long on a short stalk. They are dark green to grey on the upper surface and densely hairy undersurface with irregularly round-toothed or entire edges.
Flowers: The flowers are white maturing to bright metallic blue spiky heads.
Flowering Season: Flowers appear in summer.
Fruit: The fruit is a schizocarp and it ripens in autumn.
Habitat/distribution: Temperate woodlands and grasslands. Also WA, SA, Vic, NSW.
Where found: A few places, mainly in SE Tasmania: Laggon Flats; Big Green Island, Bass Strait; Tasman Highway, Pontypool; near Boomer Creek, Little Swanport; Jim Bacon Memorial Reserve, Springfield, Moonah; Broadmarsh; Teatree Road, Brighton; Pontville Army Range, Brighton; Black Charlies Opening, Tasman Highway, Runnymede; Fulham Road, Dunalley; some other private properties.
Other notes: This species is listed as vulnerable under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. From the Listing statement for the species: it is a perennial species, dying down during autumn, emerging in late winter, and flowering in summer. In late winter the plant develops a rosette of narrow, spiny, divided leaves with the flower stems extending and producing a mass of crowded bright blue thistle-like flower heads on rigid branched stems in mid-summer.
The terminal flowerheads open first followed by those on the side branches below with each flower lasting several weeks (Ollerenshaw 1981). Best in fertile, heavy soils in sunny positions.
Eryngium vesiculosum
Botanical Name: Eryngium vesiculosum
Commonly Called: Prickfoot
Botanical Family: Apiaceae
Grows: These plants can grow from 30 to 60cm wide.
Foliage: The light green, rigid, sharply pointed leaves arise from a stem with flattened upper surface and rounded lower surface.
Flowers: The small flowers are oval to round in heads up to 1cm wide. They arise from the leaf axil in tight umbels with a very prickly bract under each flower head. The flowers are white maturing to blue.
Flowering Season: The flowers may appear in late spring but are mainly seen in summer.
Fruit: The fruit is a schizocarp.
Habitat/distribution: This species is widespread and common in moist coastal sand flats. It is also found in SA, Vic, NSW and Q.
Where found: Springlawn Lagoon, Narawntapu National Park; Flinders Island; Dago Plains, Circular Head; Discovery Beach, West Coast; Low Head, George Town; Latrobe; Near Campbell Town, Northern Midlands; Northdown wetlands near Far Lagoon; Musselroe Wind Farm, Cape Portland; Encampment Cove, Maria Island; Two Mile Beach, Bangor, Dunalley; Fulham Road, Dunalley.
Other notes: This is a compact, perennial, prostrate herb with blue flowerheads on a prickly plant usually in a swampy site. It may be short lived. It requires regular moisture and full sun and would make an attractive moist rockery or bog garden plant.
Euphrasia collina subsp. collina
Botanical Name: Euphrasia collina subsp. collina
Commonly Called: Tall eyebright
Botanical Family: Scrophulariaceae
Grows: This beautiful small plant grows 20 to 50cm high by 20 to 40cm wide
Foliage: The leaves are narrow, small, shiny and opposite with recurved margins and 1 to 3 lobes on the tips. They have a prominent central vein.
Flowers: Flower are white to shades of mauve, often with a purple throat.
Flowering Season: The flowers appear in late spring in lower altitudes, however, in higher altitudes they are mainly seen in summer.
Fruit: The fruit is a capsule.
Habitat/distribution: Widespread in a variety of habitats from sandy/peaty heaths to rocky hillsides and alpine grasslands on eastern mountains. They are also found in SA, Vic and NSW.
Where found: National Park; Knocklofty Reserve; kunanyi/Wellington Park along the Organ Pipes and Old Hobartians Tracks and above the Chalet, especially along the Thark Ridge Track.
Other notes: Small perennial, semi-parasitic herb with erect reddish flower stems. Leaves without hairs, calyx 5mm long, flowers never striated, growing in lowland areas and eastern mountains.
Gompholobium huegelii
Botanical Name: Gompholobium huegelii
Commonly Called: Common wedgepea
Botanical Family: Fabaceae
Grows: This interesting pea flowering plant grows from 15 to 30cm high by 30 to 60cm wide
Foliage: The leaves are trifoliate and linear with grey to green leaflets, 6 to 16mm long. They arise from a common stem. In exposed coastal areas the foliage may be more dense than inland areas due to salt laden winds.
Flowers: The pea flowers have distinctive cream to yellow petals and are shaded with black underneath. The sepals and buds are grey.
Flowering Season: The flowers appear in late spring and mainly throughout summer.
Fruit: The fruit is an ovoid grey to black pod.
Habitat/distribution: It commonly grows in sandy heaths. A brighter flower form occurs in ironstone gravel. It also grows in Vic and NSW.
Where found: This distinctive flowering species has been found in the Waterhouse, Peter Murrell, Winifred Curtis Nature Scamander, Bridport Wildflower and Diprose Lagoon Nature Reserves; Rocky Cape, Freycinet and Tasman National Parks; Schouten Island; Heritage Forest Tasmanian Native Garden; Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens; Tasmanian Bushland Gardens, Buckland; and The Tasmanian Arboretum, Eugenana; also some home gardens.
Other notes: It is a small undershrub with a woody base. The large yellow pea flowers, with the grey undersurface of the petals and sepals, distinguish it from other pea species. In the home garden, it should be pruned after flowering to promote bushy growth.
Hakea teretifolia
Botanical Name: Hakea teretifolia
Commonly Called: Dagger needlebush
Botanical Family: Proteaceae
Grows: This open stout shrub grows 1 to 4m high by 0.5 to 2m wide.
Foliage: The rigid leaves are narrow, cylindrical, sharp pointed and 2 to 4cm long. They grow at right angles to the stems.
Flowers: The white, scented flowers are spider-like and grow in clusters along the stems.
Flowering Season: The Flowers appear in summer.
Fruit: The fruit are long, dagger-shaped, 2-seeded follicles, with a ring of sharp warts around the base of the long beak.
Habitat/distribution: Damp heathlands along the northern and eastern coasts. Widespread, especially in coastal heaths. This species also grows in all Australian states.
Where found: Narawntapu NP; Bridport Wildflower Reserve, St Helens area and many locations in the north east; Freycinet and Schouten Island, Forrestier Peninsula and near Orford, Tasman NP and throughout the Tasman Peninsula; and many other places in the south east; Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens; and Tasmanian Bushland Garden, Buckland; also some home gardens.
Other notes: This species is a small to medium, spreading, woody shrub with sharp leaves and dagger-like fruit. It is very hardy, slow growing and tolerates dry conditions. Its sharp pointed leaves make it a barrier to people and animals and a good bird nesting site. It grows in most well drained soils in full sun.
Leptorhynchos squamatus subsp. squamatus
Botanical Name: Leptorhynchos squamatus subsp. squamatus
Commonly Called: Scaly buttons
Botanical Family: Asteraceae
Grows: 10-20cm H
Foliage: Lanceolate, 1-3cm long, hairy, alternate, at the base of the floral stem.
Flowers: Bright yellow, compact, button-like, terminal daisy.
Flowering Season: Spring/summer.
Fruit: An achene.
Habitat/distribution: Widespread, in a variety of habitats from dry coastal to elevated grasslands. Also SA, Vic, NSW.
Where found:; Big Punch Bowl and Long Point; Bridport Wildflower, Diprose Lagoon Nature, Knocklofty, Peter Murrell and Township Lagoon Nature Reserves; Rocky Cape, Freycinet and Tasman NPs; many places along the north, north east and east coasts; Heritage Forest Tasmanian Native Garden; Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens; Tasmanian Bushland Garden, Buckland; and The Tasmanian Arboretum, Eugenana; also many home gardens.
Other notes: Wiry stems with leaves only at the base. This small wiry herbaceous perennial plant is usually found in clumps. It prefers full sun and good drainage.
Pimelea flava
Botanical Name: Pimelea flava
Commonly Called: Yellow riceflower
Botanical Family: Thymelaeaceae
Grows: 50-100cm H x 50-75cm W.
Foliage: Elliptical, 4-12mm long, opposite on very short stalks, with prominent mid-vein.
Flowers: Erect head of lime green bracts opening to reveal bright yellow, terminal clusters of flowers. Male and female are occasionally on separate plants.
Flowering Season: Late winter/spring.
Fruit: A cluster of several hairy 1-seeded capsules.
Habitat/distribution: Heavy soil that retains some moisture, on sheltered sites. Small plant populations in widespread locations in the north, north-east and south-east. Also SA, Vic, NSW.
Where found: Forestier Peninsula around Murdunna; Latrobe area including Kermode Creek, Roaring Magg Hill; Tasman NP; Woodvine Nature Reserve N boundary.
Other notes: Appears to be short lived in cultivation. Requires constant moisture and tolerates semi-shade. Distinguishing feature is its yellow flowers.
Pimelea linifolia
Botanical Name: Pimelea linifolia
Commonly Called: Slender riceflower
Botanical Family: Thymelaeaceae
Grows: 0.5-1.5m H x 0.5-1.5m W.
Foliage: Elliptical, green, shiny, opposite, 8-20mm long.
Flowers: In nodding terminal heads, tubular, cream, with conspicuous orange stamens and large red/green bracts.
Flowering Season: Late spring
Fruit: Dry and nut-like.
Habitat/distribution: Widespread and abundant in heathland and in understorey of moist forest. Also SA, Vic, NSW, Q.
Where found: Big Punch Bowl and Long Point, Bridport Wildflower, Hawthorn Road – Maranoa Heights, Knocklofty Reserve and Peter Murrell Reserves; Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair, Narawntapu, Rocky Cape and Tasman National Parks; Luther Point Coastal Track ñ Orford; Schouten Island; Wellington Park.
Other notes: Nodding creamy flowers and the colourful bracts. A plant for well drained moist soil, in part shade. Requires regular pruning for shape.
Podolepis decipiens
Botanical Name: Podolepis decipiens
Commonly Called: Deceiving copperwire-daisy
Botanical Family: Asteraceae
Grows: 20-60cm H
Foliage: A basal rosette, linear/lanceolate, 10-20cm long, smaller along the red flower stem (hence copper wire common name). Upper surface rough to touch.
Flowers: Single, bright yellow to 4cm diameter, with distinctively fringed ray florets and paper bracts at base.
Flowering Season: Early summer.
Fruit: an achene
Habitat/distribution: Widespread and locally common from sea level to alpine grasslands. Also SA, Vic, NSW, Qld.
Where found: Cradle Mountain/Lake St Claire NP; Diprose Lagoon and Township Lagoon Nature Reserves; Lakes Highway, Central Plateau 3 km north of Breona; Lake Augusta, Liaweenee; Waverly Flora Park; and many other locations.
Other notes: Requires well-drained moist soil in full sun. Short lived in cultivation. Conspicuous fringing of the bright yellow flowers. Podolepis decipiens is the wide spread species in Tasmania, Podolepis jaceoides is found on Flinders Island
