​Sandstone and desert flowers - 2 September 2017

Time takes on a different dimension when you're on the road - a week can seem like a month; distance and diversity contribute to that. Having been on the wild flower route and seen so many beautiful flowers and plants, the inland route through goldfield country was quite different. I was happy to be heading back towards the desert. Ah the desert with its big skies, black silent nights and colours ..... glorious! Oh dear, I think I've said that before ... hmmm.

You guessed it - London Bridge.

The patterns and colour in the rock of the land formation here was fascinating.

Sandstone was a rather quick visit but what we saw was impressive. We found some awesome rock formations - like London Bridge near Sandstone. Yes, another one but this one is a bit special. It was formed by weathered basalt believed to be 350 million years old ... wow!

This is Eremophila fraseri- Burra. The flower is small compared to the deep pink calyx in which the developing fruit nestles. The flower is cream and brown with purple dots inside. Emus love these fruits.

This is Eremophila fraseri- Burra. The flower is small compared to the deep pink calyx in which the developing fruit nestles. The flower is cream and brown with purple dots inside. Emus love these fruits.

Look inside this lovely and you will see dots running back to the rewards in the flower's throat. The insect has to negotiate through a woolly maze to reach its reward. And voila - clever?!

And I saw some wonderful desert plants including sandalwood, hopbush and lots of eremophila. Let me tell you about the clever eremophila. They are desert loving hence the name; the common name is emu and poverty bushes. The greatest concentration of the species occurs in the desert regions of WA. There are basically 2 flower types. One adapted for pollination by insects so it has a landing pad and woolly throat with insect guides on the inside of the flower tube. The other type is adapted to be pollinated by birds. The flower hangs upside down and its stamen daub pollen on the head of birds as they feed on the nectar. The fascinating thing about many of them is that once the flower begins to die back, the calyx starts to colour and enlarge to display the fruit to the birds, particularly emus which consume great qualities. Voila - plant dispersion. A win-win arrangement. I just love them! But I digress and we are back on the road again ..... heading for the highway. Sounds like a song tra la la ......

Santalum spicatum - sandalwood. This tree exploited in the mid 1800s to early 1900s for its perfumed oil and wood which was exported to Asia. Sandalwood is now strictly protected and supplies of wood are severely limited. I was lucky to see this one.

Hopbush - not sure which one.

Now what on earth is this? The soil is mounded around the hole and decorated with narrow leaves. Ant nest, goanna, snake? Hazard a guess anyone?