Wildflowers at Hartmann Park, Crows Nest

Pink and cream Stylidium laricifolium

At Hartmann Park we set off with Kym and her naturalist pre-schooler, Jamie. Lovely yellow Donkey Orchids soon had the cameras clicking. We almost walked on the Chloanthes parviflora with their mauve flowers, growing on the side of the track. Xanthorrhoea was everywhere. Perhaps the highlight was the masses of Stylidium laricifolium or Tree Trigger Plant. A fascinating plant on which the narrow leaves grow in a thick mass up the stems giving the plant a furry look. The tiny pale pink, four-petalled flowers grow up the stem above the leaves. We had difficulty finding any to trigger and decided maybe the rain had set them off. Along the track we found only two specimens of  Stylidium graminifolium, a very different upright plant with fine strap leaves supporting its base.

The miniature white flowers of the Leucopogan were more difficult to see, as were the tiny flowers of the purple Hylanthus and Glycene Pea Glycine tabacina hiding in the grass.

Kym pointed out New England Blackbutts Eucalyptus montivaga and told us there was a very rare suite of eucalypts in this park. Jamie pointed out his favourite flower Pimelia linifolia. We got to smell the leaves of the Platysace lanceolata (a member of the carrot family.)

A banksia was in flower, and the very thick stem of the Parsonsia vine was easy to see. Here Kym pointed out Angophora woodsiana, another member of the unusual suite of trees. 

Amata nigriceps in a Toowoomba garden

Further along the track Jamie’s sharp eyes found a lovely black and orange moth on the underside of the Xanthorrhoea. It was a White Antenna Wasp Moth, Amata nigriceps.

Arriving back at our starting point we agreed it had been a very successful walk, and as we headed for the cars Jamie pointed out Great Cormorants flying overhead.

                                                                                                                                                   by Donalda