Friday 1 February 2008

Snow Gentians and Sky Lilies

Snow-Gentian


On every track at Baw Baw we saw Mueller's Snow Gentians Chionogentias muelleriana ssp. muelleriana - Ferdinand Mueller was the Victorian Government's first botanist - and they never failed to delight. What a beautiful plant. But we only saw one flowering patch of the beautiful Sky Lily Herpolirion novae-zelandiae. It grows in moist peaty soil which is where we found it, and is quite common, but the only plants flowering were in the shade under a picnic table near the village! Snow Gentians and Sky Lilies - poetry in their names and beauty in their appearance.

Sky Lily

2 comments:

Snail said...

Wow! They're exquisite. I haven't been to Mt Baw Baw for years --- and now you've reawakened my interest in the area.

Do those snazzy montane grasshoppers occur in that area?

Boobook said...

Hi Snail
We saw several grasshoppers, including the flightless. Watch this space.