A surprisingly floriferous walk opposite the Pony club

 As part of our planning for a presentation to U3A we walked the sandy Track Opposite the Pony Club yesterday (29 July).  We were surprised at how much blossom was around, possibly reflected the warmth of the month (anomaly +0.8C).

Here is the route, courtesy of eBird!

The first 400m cross a grass tree plain.  At present the grass trees are largely invisible beneath vigorous growth of sedges due to the very wet previous 2 years.  The tall shrubs in the background are Leptospermum laevigatum which fades out after about 200m into a Banksia serrata overstory.

There were several species of Acacia in flower.  The first encountered was A. oxycedrus.

Most of the A. suavolens had completed flowering, but this one still had some flowers.

The commonest flowering wattle, once past the heath, was A. longifolia.

This shows both a bank of A. longifolia and the eucalypt forest in which it forms the mid-storey

A. buxifolia is a very low growing species.

An interesting example of naming is that of A. ulicifolia which translates as "Gorse-leaved Wattle".  However the vernacular name offered in Joy's book is "Juniper Wattle": I can see why that is so, but the usual specific name for 'juniper like' is 'juniperina'.

On to other genera.  Epacris impressa was common.  It comes in various colours, beginning with white ...

.. a red form ...

.. and two shades of pink white a little more white in the background.

iNaturalist suggests this is Rhytidosporum procumbens, which gives a good match in Flora of Victoria.

Correa reflexa

I an pretty sure that this is a Hibbertia.  However I don't think it is the common species n this area H. aspersa.  From the species listed in iNaturalist in East Gippsland, checked against Flora of Victoria,  I suspect this is H. fasciculata: lets see what iNaturalist has to say about that.  As expected need detailed photos "as there are lots of similar ones" and taxonomists hate lumping.

A white, beardy jobbie must be some species Leucopogon and choosing between those in Joy's book, and with advice from a local expert, I go for L. virgatus.

There were a few Dillwynia sericea off the track in the heath but I couldn't be fussed getting yet another image of that species.  However in the forest Frances found one flower of Platylobium parviflorum (another 'pea').