#native flora

Opisthoncus sp. on Asplenium sp.

31-OCT-2025

We're taking a break from bryophytes this week to look at Grevillea rosmarinifolia (Proteaceae), aka the rosemary grevillea. And buckle in, because I have a *lot* of photos to share. The above is a mature, open flower while....

...these are opening flowers! This Grevillea is native to south-eastern Australia it is also a common horticultural plant, with a huuuuge variety of cultivars and hybrids in production.

Plants are usually a shrub of 0.3-2m with dense, and very prickly, foliage. Flowers are a typical Grevillea flower (they have tepals and a pollen presenter) with the wild forms being red-pink.

Flower buds are green instead of white. They change colour as they mature.

This specimen, which is from a plant growing on campus, also had pink pollen! Very exciting indeed. The pollen on this pollen presenter had the most perfect impression of the anthers I've ever seen.

Like, look at that. Gorgeous.

For those that don't know, Grevillea anthers dehisce pollen onto the pollen presenter before the flower fully opens.

And another reminder, Grevillea pollen is triangular!

💐🦋💐

Before I crash for the night…

Busy Times on a Cactus Flower

Volunteers plant native species in parks throughout California in an effort to restore biodiversity and slow the spread of wildfire.

Test Plot, a project launched in 2019 by the landscape architecture firm Terremoto, has built eight plots in Elysian Park alone. On a recent Friday morning, volunteers were pulling out invasive grass and black mustard to make room for wildflowers and other drought-resistant, native species.

This garden is a response to a challenge vexing parks departments across the American west: how to adapt to a changing climate with limited resources?

In southern California, native flora tends to tolerate drought, making it more resistant to wildfire. By contrast, many invasive species tend to dry up, becoming kindling during wildfires, which have become more frequent and severe in recent years as the planet heats up.