The Great Victoria Desert in full Bloom
Well after countless hours of sifting through my
Wildflowers Books, I hope that I have named accurately the many varieties of
Wildflowers that we encountered during our recent trip out into the
Great Victoria Desert. Being purely an amateur, I have given it my very best and I know that there will be a few that I will need help from the experts out there to set the records straight. It is not until you get
home and start to look at all the different number of flowers, that you get to realise that the desert was in peak condition from good rainfall that had fallen a number of months prior to out trip. The one downside to any Wildflower Book, is that none will give you a complete picture of just what is out there, and it is not possible to just use one book that should portray the area that we travelled through. So with the time it has taken me to go through the flowers, it may
well help future travellers out into the
Great Victoria Desert try to identify the many types of flowers that are out there when you stop to take a greater look at what is really out there, and not just a corrugated track with lots of trees and vegetation on the side of the road.
Ask many people how they classify a desert, and most times they will relate to the barren, large dunes that are portrayed as typically seen in the Dune Systems of North Africa. This is not true with the Desert of Australia, and at times it is hard to believe that you are travelling an actual Desert.
Over the years of travel, there is one Desert that draws us back, time after time and we have been very privileged to see the
Great Victoria Desert showing off its many faces. This years trip over vast tracks of the Desert revealed large areas covered in the most vivid displays of
wildflowers, with other sections having been burnt bare from wildfires that had ravaged large areas of the Desert.
Seeing the
Great Victoria Desert the way that it was only emphasises the point that Australia’s largest desert system is such a special place to visit and it will not be our last trip out there, as there is still so much more to see and explore. Below is a selection of images that were captured when we were away and I know that there would have been many more
Wildflowers out there that we missed.
If you ever have the opportunity to travel through this very special area, make sure that you stop to see and smell “the roses” as they say and you too may be rewarded with some special flowers that will add to your experience of travelling into the remote areas of South Australia and Western Australia.
If I have identified any flowers incorrectly, could I please ask the experts out there to advise me of the correct name.
Swainsona formosa - Common name Sturts Desert Pea
Swainsona formosa - Common name Sturts Desert Pea
Swainsona formosa - Common name Sturts Desert Pea
Swainsona formosa - Common name Sturts Desert Pea
Sturt's Desert Pea on the Anne Beadell Highway near Emu
The plants covered large areas
Scaevola spinescens - Common name Spiny fanflower
Scaevola depauperata - Skeleton fanflower
Eremophila serrulata - Green Fuchsia Bush
Eremophila serrulata - Green Fuchsia Bush
Eremophila glabra - Common Glabra
Eremophila glabra - Common Glabra
Eremophila gilesii - Giles Desert Fuchsia
Eremophila gilesii - Giles Desert Fuchsia
Eremophila scoria - Broom Emubush
Eremophila gibsonii - Gibsonss Desert Fuchsia
Eremophila Sp
Eremophila Sp
Trachymene glaucifolia -Wild Parsnip
Trachymene glaucifolia -Wild Parsnip
Senecio gregorii - Annual Yellowtop add colour to the Emu Road
Senecio gregorii - Annual Yellowto
Senecio gregorii - Annual Yellowtop
Ptilotus polystachyus - Long tails
Ptilotus polystachyus - Long tails
Ptilotus polystachyus - Long tails
Lawrencella davenportii - Sticky Everlasting
Ptilotus exaltatus var. exattatus - Mulla Mulla
Ptilotus exaltatus var. exattatus - Mulla Mulla
Ptilotus obovatus - Silver Mulla Mulla
Ptilotus obovatus - Silver Mulla Mulla
Schoenia cassiniana - Pink Everlasting
Schoenia cassiniana - Pink Everlasting
Calandrinia polyandra - Parakeelya
Calandrinia polyandry - Parakeelya
Cephalipterum drummondii - Pompom Head
Cephalipterum drummondii - Pompom Head
Polycalymma stuartii - Poached Egg Daisy
Polycalymma stuartii - Poached Egg Daisy
The Dunes overlooking Forest Lakes were covered in Polycalymma stuartii - Poached Egg Daisy
Eucalyptus youngiana - Ooldea Mallee
Eucalyptus youngiana - Ooldea Mallee
Eucalyptus vokesensis - Voakes Hill Mallee
Alyogyne pinoniana - Sand Hibiscus
Swainsona canescens -Grey Swainsona
Malva behriana - Native Hollyhock
Gunniopsis quadrifida - Starbush
Gunniopsis quadrifida - Starbush
Brunonia australis - Blue Pin-cushion
Brunonia australis- Blue Pin-cushion
Westringia rigida - Stiff Rosemary
Brunonia australis- Blue Pin-cushion
Trichodesma zeylanicum - Cattlebush
Erodium cygnorum - Blue Storksbill
Lechenaultia divaricata - Tangled Lechenaultia
Duboisia hopwoodii - Pituri
Lomandra leucocephala - Woolly Mar-rush
Lomandra leucocephala - Woolly Mat-rush
Isotoma petraea - Rock Isomome
Isotoma petraea - Rock Isomome
The Desert was transformed from local rain
Zygophyllum apiculatum - Gallweed
Nicotiana velutina - Velvet Tobacco
Disphyma crassifolium - Round Noon Flower
Maireana erioclada - Rosy Bluebush
Lycium australe- Australian Boxthorn
Acacia cyperophylla - Red Mulga
Hakea francisiana - Grass Leaved Hakea
Hakea francisiana - Grass Leaved Hakea
Pittosporum angustifolium - Native Apricot
Pittosporum angustifolium - Native Apricot
Goodenia berardiaba
Goodenia berardiaba
Goodenia affinis - Silver Goodenia
Bossiaea walkeri - Cactus Bossiaea
Erodiophyllum elderi - Hard-heads
Erodiophyllum elderi - Hard-heads
Helipterum charsleyae - Charsley Daisy
Rhodanthe citrina
Rhodanthe gardner
Waltzia suaveolens
Pycnosorus pleiocephala - Soft Billybuttons
Grevillea juncifolia - Desert grevillea
Cheilanthes austrotenufolia - Rockfern
Blennodia canescens - Wild Stock
Acacia tetragonophylla - Dead Finish
Crotalaria eremaea - Desert Rattlepod
Brachychiton gregorii - Desert Kurrajong
Brachychiton gregorii - Desert Kurrajong
Kerauchrenia integrifolia - Common Firebush
Solanum quadriloculatum - Wild Tomato
Aluta maisonneuvei - Desert Heath Myrtle
Aluta maisonneuvei - Desert Heath Myrtle
Dodonaea stenozyga - Desert Hop-Bush
Solanum sp - Wild Tomato
Waitzia acuminata - Orange Immortelle
Waitzia acuminata - Orange Immortelle
Santalum acuminatum - Quandong
Senna artemisioides - Silver Cassia
Senna helmsii - Blunt leaf Cassia
Senna Sp
Sida calyxhymenia - Tall Sida
Senna Sp
Daisy Sp
Daisy Sp
Daisy Sp
Daisy Sp
Daisy Sp
Daisy Sp
Daisy Sp
Daisy Sp
Wildflowers at their very best Great Victoria Desert
Bur Daisy and Pea Var growing side by side
Pea Sp
Pea Sp
Pea Sp
Pea Sp
Colours along the Caravan Track
Stephen Langman
October 2014