Life cycle of E Lehmannii

 It seems we have to start with the Lehmannii seed pod. These turn into very hard conkers and make wonderful fire wood. In the slow combustion stove they will still be glowing in the morning when you get up. In fact the whole tree is excellent firewood, it is very very hard and a devil to cut when dry.

 The red fingers form after the flower has matured and are very sculptural. The covers fall off after a while and can be threaded into interesting necklaces or cords for room dividers.
In fact I have collected some and will organize them into patterns for photographs.
The green flowers are blowsy balls of green and the Rainbow Lorikeets love them and leave our other fruit alone when these trees are flowering.

This morning I also took photos of the erymophila which is flowering but I cannot find its identification in the book. I did find the name for the Melaleuca nesophila which also still had one flower left. The drought is playing havoc with the rest of the garden .I always think of our end of summer as the northern European winter when all the plants have disappeared under ground because they don't want to know about the terrible cold. Here they disappear because of the relentless heat and lack of moisture. They will mostly come back again when the first rains come. So I admire the belladonna lilies which have already popped out of the ground bravely displaying their delicate colours, we have a pink and a white form.