Friday, April 23, 2021

some plants of Alice Springs (Mparntwe)

Pictures taken along the Larapinta trail, near the telegraph station

Buffel grass (invasive species, which is everywhere)

Woolly oat grass

Dead finish with its unforgiving rigid and thorny leaves providing protection against water loss and predators

Origin of the name: Either, when this one dies then everything else is finished, or, in a drought the desperate rabbits try to eat its leaves and die in the branchces!

Silver witchetty, the witchetty grubs (yum) feed on the sap inside the roots

Close up of a witchetty showing flowers, seed pod and leaves

Dog wood, identified through the "Central Australian Flora" brochure

Mulga, can survive in the harshest conditions (in 2019 Alice Springs had its lowest rainfall on record, 67.6 mm). The hardwood is useful for fencing and as a fuel for campfires.

Not identified

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