Page 300 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

298  WESTERN A USTR ALIA

Wildflowers of Western Australia

Western Australia is truly the nation’s wildflower state.
In the spring, from June to November, more than
12,000 species of flowers burst into brilliantly coloured The elegant
blooms, carpeting deserts, plains, farmland and forests kangaroo paw
looks exactly
with blazing reds, yellows, pinks and blues. like its name
A staggering 60 per cent of these flowers are unique suggests. The
to the state, giving it one of the world’s richest floras. It is state’s floral emblem,
home to such remarkable plants as the kangaroo paw, the it has many different species
and mostly grows in coastal
cowslip orchid and the carnivorous Albany pitcher plant, heath and dry woodland areas.
as well as giant jarrah and karri forests.
When and Where to
see the Wildflowers
Bushwalking or driving among the flower carpets of
Western Australia is an experience not to be missed.
Most of the wildflowers bloom in spring, but exactly
when depends on their location in this vast state.
The wildflower season begins in the northern Pilbara
in July and culminates in the magnificent flowering
around the Stirling Ranges and the south coast in
late October and November.

The Albany pitcher
plant grows near coastal
estuaries around Albany
in the southwest. One of
the world’s largest car-
nivorous plants, it traps
and devours insects in
its sticky hairs.

The magnificent royale
hakea is one of many
hakea species in Western Much of Western Australia is arid,
Australia. It is found on dusty outback country where the
the coast near Esperance only vegetation is dry bush shrubs
and in Fitzgerald River and, after rainfall, wildflowers.
National Park.
Many wild flowers possess an
Red flowering gum incredible ability to withstand
even the driest, hottest ground.
trees in the Stirling
Ranges burst into
bright red flowers every
November, attracting
honey bees.

The cowslip orchid is a
bright yellow orchid with
red streaks and five main petals.
It can usually be found in Leschenaultia biloba is a brilliant blue,
October, in the dramatic Stirling bell-shaped flower found in jarrah forests
Ranges region. near Collie, or in drier bush and plain
country where it flowers in carpets of blue.