FFF41 - CORAL VINE

Kennedia coccinea (Coral Vine) is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low growing trailing shrub or climber which has twining rust-coloured branchlets with rounded leaflets that are about 1.5 cm long and occur in threes. Orange red or scarlet pea flowers are produced in clusters between August and November in its native range.

The species was first formally described by E.P. Ventenat in 1804 in Jardin de la Malmaison. Two varieties were described in Paxton's Magazine of Botany in 1835, namely var. elegans and var. coccinea. Three further varieties were transferred from the genus Zichya in 1923 by Domin, namely var. molly , var. and var. villosa. Currently, the Western Australian Herbarium recognises only two informal subspecies known tentatively as subsp. Coastal and subsp. Inland. The species is naturally adapted to sandy or lighter soils and prefers some shade. It is resistant to drought and has some frost tolerance. Plants can be propagated by scarified seed or cuttings of semi-mature growth.

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FFF40 - WHERE THE BEE SUCKS...

Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis. Currently, there are only seven recognised species of honey bee with a total of 44 subspecies, though historically, anywhere from six to eleven species have been recognised. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees. Some other types of related bees produce and store honey, but only members of the genus Apis are true honey bees.

Most species have historically been cultured or at least exploited for honey and beeswax by humans indigenous to their native ranges. Only two of these species have been truly domesticated, one (Apis mellifera) at least since the time of the building of the Egyptian pyramids, and only that species has been moved extensively beyond its native range. Species of Apis are generalist floral visitors, and will pollinate a large variety of plants, but by no means all plants. Of all the honey bee species, only Apis mellifera has been used extensively for commercial pollination of crops and other plants. The value of these pollination services is commonly measured in the billions of dollars.

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AUSTRALIAN GOLD

Acacia is the largest genus in the family Mimosaceae, the Mimosa family, which is mainly tropical and sub-tropical in distribution.The generic name Acacia is derived from the Greek 'akis', a point, referring to the spiny thorns of some species. There are more than 900 species of Acacia in Australia, making it the largest genus in the Australian flora.

Acacia pycnantha, Golden Wattle, is a shrub or small tree about 4 to 8 metres tall. The specific name pycnantha from the Greek 'pyknos', meaning 'dense', and 'anthos', meaning 'a flower', refers to the dense clusters of flowers.  In spring large fluffy golden-yellow flower-heads with up to eighty minute sweetly scented flowers provide a vivid contrast with the foliage.

Golden Wattle occurs in the understorey of open forest or woodland and in open scrub formations in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in temperate regions with mean annual rainfall of 350 mm to 1000 mm. It regenerates freely after fires, which usually kill the parent plants but stimulate the germination of seeds stored in the soil if rain follows soon after.

The brilliant yellow, fragrant flowers of Golden Wattle make it a popular garden plant. It is moderately frost tolerant and grows well in a wide range of soils provided drainage is effective, but tends to be short-lived in cultivation. It is easily propagated from seed soaked in hot water to break the hard seed coat, and the seedlings can be transplanted to pots of soil mix for growing on before planting out in a lightly shaded or open position.

Golden Wattle flowers have been used in perfume making. It was introduced to horticulture in the northern hemisphere about the middle of the nineteenth century. In Britain it survives outdoors only in the mildest areas. In California it has escaped from garden cultivation and now grows wild but it is not considered a pest. In South Africa, however, it has become a significant weed species.

The adoption of the Golden Wattle as the national flower tends to be confirmed by its introduction into the design of the Australian armorial bearings on the recommendation of the Rt Hon. Andrew Fisher, Prime Minister of Australia, when the Commonwealth Armorial Ensigns and Supporters were granted by Royal Warrant on 19 September 1912.  Acacia pycnantha enjoyed popular acceptance as Australia's national flower for much of this century but it was not proclaimed as the national floral emblem until 1988, the year of Australia's bicentenary.

The Gazettal is dated 1 September 1988, signed by the Governor General, Sir Ninian Stephen, on 19 August 1988.A ceremony was held on 1 September 1988 at the Australian National Botanic Gardens when the Minister for Home Affairs, Robert Ray, made the formal announcement, and the Prime Minister's wife, Mrs Hazel Hawke, planted a Golden Wattle. Four years later, in 1992, the 1 September was formally declared 'National Wattle Day' by the Minister for the Environment, Mrs Ros Kelly at another ceremony at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. The Gazettal is dated 24 August 1992 and was signed by the Governor General, Bill Haydon, on 23 June 1992.

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FFF38 - NATIVE LILAC HIBISCUS

Alyogyne huegelii is a flowering plant found in the Southwest botanical province of Western Australia, extending along its entire coastline. A large flowered shrub, the species favours the sands of coastal shrublands and heath. The large flower, highly variable in colour, is similar to that of Hibiscus. It was previously placed in that genus, and is commonly named "Lilac Hibiscus". It is widely cultivated as a flowering plant for the garden, but the varieties and cultivars previously published are no longer formally recognised.

Alyogyne is a shrub to four metres with many alternate branches, although lower ones may be sparse. Bright green leaves are divided in three to five in outline; margins are irregular, lobate to toothed; pubescent and strongly veined lobes are coarse in shape. The flowerstalk at the leaf axil is long, tilting at the single flower.The flowers have five luminous petals up to 70 mm long, these are overlapping and have slight ridges. The colour is cream or mauve, or the lilac of the name by which it is traded.

The staminal tube structure contains numerous whorled anthers, these are yellow. The five styles of this are fused until the tip, which is composed of swollen and apparently divided stigma. This is supported on a five-lobed calyx, within an arrangement of up to 10 partly fused bracts. As with all the Malvales, the flowers last around a day – becoming deeply coloured and papery when spent. They are numerous in the long flowering period in Australia being between June and January.

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FFF37 - CINERARIA

Cineraria is now generally treated as a genus of about 50 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to southern Africa. The genus includes herbaceous plants and small sub-shrubs. In the past, the genus was commonly viewed in a broader sense including a number of species from the Canary Islands and Madeira which are now transferred to the genus Pericallis, including the Florist's Cineraria (Pericallis x hybrida). The uses for Cineraria include topical application for the treatment of cataracts.

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