(Article and photos by Diane Pagel)
The Goomburra camp provided several examples of plant species thriving in limited areas inaccessible to grazing animals. In a small mostly dry gully off Dalrymple Creek I came across a large colony of Bulbine bulbosa (the wild onion or native leek) that cattle could not reach, growing above, and descending from, a basalt cliff and slopes. There were hundreds of plants showing bright yellow and perfumed star-like flowers opening on racemes one or two at a time. The display was striking. Bulbine bulbosa (left) grows from corms and has succulent leaves, densely tufted. It can be a successful garden plant.
Well to the west, along Goomburra Road, I rediscovered a healthy colony of the vulnerable Rhaponticum australe (right), the native thistle, recovering strongly from drought along the verge and into the neighbouring dry paddock, not grazed for years. Buds and pink flowers were starting to show. The landowner had been unaware of the plant's significance but offered to monitor it.
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