Unless you are familiar with this particular native species, you would probably miss seeing the tree itself flowering. In the mornings you would notice lots of flowers lying scattered on the ground underneath these trees, but you would only see the tightly packed green buds in the light of day.
This little tree flowers only in the evenings and any bloom that opens during the night will fall when the sun rises. So if you ever visit, I'll take you out into the bushland around dusk or very very early in the mornings to see these stunning flowers.
For loads of wonderful Mosaic Monday posts, go and visit Mary at Little Red House
Pretty flowers and what a fun name they have!
ReplyDeleteHi Bernie, what a gorgeous flower! I always love to see Aussie wildflowers. I was interested to read that it only flowers at night. I thought that the cockies must have been picking off the flowers and dropping them, like they do over here with bottlebrush and such.
ReplyDeleteSo if I travel to Queensland should I come in the winter dry season and not summer wet season?
Lorrie, they remind me of fireworks! They do look spectacular on the tree.
ReplyDeleteJill, apparently the common name comes from the fact that the Cockies munch on the fruit that comes after the flowering. The fruit looks like little apples and the Aboriginals say the Cockatoos absolutely love them. I've never actually seen any Cockatoo munching away on the fruit, but maybe there's just too much other great food for them around here.
Whoops! Jill, in answer to your question ... if you want to miss the heat, the intolerable humidity, the ever-present biting insects and the possibility of monsoonal downpours and cyclones, then yes I would recommend you visit during the dry season and most definitely not during the wet.
ReplyDeleteWow it is beautiful. I have never heard or seen it before. What a shame only blooming at night.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen this before!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Have a nice week,
Markus
Hi Bernie.
ReplyDeleteSpectacular flower! I´ve often wondered what specie it wa on the photo you used for your avatar, as it´s very special. (When I first saw it, I thought I could find it in my little book about Australian Wildflowers, given to me 30 years ago, however it wasn´t in it.) Beautiful indeed. A pity one cannot enjoy the flowers during the day, but that just makes them more special, I think.
Have a lovely week. Best regards, Iris.
Pretty flowers, are they fragrant?
ReplyDeleteDiane, I must say I never knew about these beautiful flowers either until I moved out here next to the bush. When I started taking photos of flowers to share with other gardeners, that's when I found out what these were.
ReplyDeleteTeagarden, thanks for dropping by this week.
Iris, this wildflower probably wouldn't make it into any Australian wildflower book. This is a vast country and most of the wildflowers that make it into books are the ones that grow in the southern half of the country.
Sueb, yes there is a subtle fragrance but I can't really compare it to anything I know. I'll get back to you on that one!
Hi bernie, they are pretty blooms. the tree must look gorgeous in bloom. Lovely mosaic! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteOh what a lovely flower. Such a gorgeous tree to have in your yard. V
ReplyDeleteGood morning Bernie ~ This is such a wonderful, unusual flower. A real beauty.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week ~ FlowerLady
P.S. Bernie I couldn't find a way to email you so I'll just ask this here. I have a stitchin fingers friend who lives in your part of the world. She has a photo of a flower she has but doesn't know the name of and I thought you might know.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to her blog, the picture is her header.
http://stitchesandlife.blogspot.com/
Thank you ~ FlowerLady
I just love this unusual pretty bloom. Do you have a picture of the whole tree's form? I am captivated by it!
ReplyDeleteBernie,
ReplyDeleteThese are lovely flowers, so many unusual plants in Austrialia. I know we share some of the tropicals as houseplants but it would be nice to grow them outside.
Eileen
Cocky apple tree!!! Thank you, Bernie for introducing us to this delightful tree. Gorgeous and I love the name.
ReplyDeleteSuch fascinating blooms they have. They are so pretty. They do have a funny name. LOL!
ReplyDeleteIf they open at night, they are probably pollinated by moths or other nocturnal creature. Do you know?
ReplyDeletei have heard of this tree but didn't know it - very interesting. Why Cocky Apple?
ReplyDeleteI'd heard of cocky apple trees but didn't know anything about them - definitely didn't realise they had such interesting and beautiful flowers. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWhy cocky apples? The fruit looks like pearshaped apples and the cockatoes love them. They are edible for humans too. Aboriginals use them for many purposes, preparation from inner bark used for boils, burns, wounds, leprosy sores and general sickness. Heated leaves used to treat circumcision and spear wounds, stone fish stings and headaches and many more uses from pulped leaves. ( John Brock - Native Plants of Northern Australia ).
ReplyDeleteBernie, I had them in my Darwin garden as these were native trees, but mine were flowering during the day as well. Well, I actually never looked at night, lol. How did you take the pics at night?
The pictures are stunning, you must have had a windstil evening. I love especially the first one.
Thanks Aussie. I didn't know about the many uses for the fruit, flowers and bark of this tree. It's amazing just how valuable this native is in terms of bush medicine.
ReplyDeleteWe see the flowers in the early evening and early morning Aussie, but not during the daytime. These photos were taken around 5.00 am and 6.00 pm.