FFF652 - LUCULIA

Luculia gratissima is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is an ornamental plant that is found from the central Himalayas to northern Indo-China. The Latin specific epithet gratissima means "most pleasing" or "most agreeable".

It is a large shrub or even a small tree growing to 4 m tall by 1.5 m broad, with pointed ribbed leaves, and clustered fragrant pale pink flowers in autumn and winter. As it does not tolerate temperatures below 5 °C, it requires cultivation under glass in temperate zones. However, it may be placed outside in a sheltered, sunny spot during the summer months. It is a recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

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FFF651 - PRICKLY MOSES

Winter in Australia is generally milder and devoid of extreme weather as may be seen in Northern Hemisphere regions the closer one gets to the North Pole. Add to that the fact that most native flora is evergreen and an added bonus is that many of the native flowers can bloom in Winter to early Spring. An example of that is the many Acacia trees and shrubs, one of which is seen here.

Acacia verticillata (prickly Moses; prickly-leaved wattle; star-leaved acacia; prickly mimosa; whorl-leaved acacia) is a perennial shrub to small tree in the Fabaceae family, native to Australia and Tasmania. The species is a common understorey shrub in both wet and dry sclerophyll forests as well as scrub and heath. In coastal environments it will often have much wider leaves as opposed to the regular needle-like nature of inland specimens.

Acacia verticillata stems are ribbed and are sparsely to densely hairy. The leaves are small sharply pointed phyllodes (false leaves) are up to 17 x 3 mm. and 1.5-2.5 mm wide. They have one prominent vein and 1-2 less prominent veins. Its inflorescences which are numerous consist of numerous pale yellow flowers arranged on short cylindrical spikes that extend beyond the leaves.

Its seeds are in elongated pods (5-10 cm long) which are sparsely hairy when young and glabrous when mature. This trees dispersal is by seed. Trees are often covered by a fungally-induced galls.

On 1 September 2016, the Reserve Bank of Australia released a replacement of the polymer five dollar note which includes a stylised depiction of Acacia verticillata (subspecies ovoidea).

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FFF650 - TREE DAHLIA

Dahlia imperialis or Bell tree dahlia is an 8-10 metre tall member of the Dahlia genus native to Mexico, Central America and Colombia. It is a plant of the uplands and mountains, occurring at elevations of 1,500–1,700 metres, and its leaves are used as a dietary supplement by the Q'eqchi' people of San Pedro Carchá in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.

It is a tuberous, herbaceous perennial, rapidly growing from the base after a dormant winter period, developing brittle, cane-like, 4-angled stems with swollen nodes and large tripinnate leaves, those near the ground soon being shed. The pendant or nodding flowerheads are 75-150mm across with ray florets lavender or mauvish-pink in colour.

This species is fast-growing, the growth spurt being linked to shorter daylight hours, and usually comes into flower in autumn before the first frost. Propagation is by seed or by stem cuttings of some 30 cm long having at least two nodes, laid horizontally below the soil. Some Dahlia species were brought from Mexico to Europe in the 16th century.

D. imperialis was first described in 1863 by Benedikt Roezl (1823–1885), the great Czech orchid collector and traveller, who, ten years later in 1872–73, went on his odyssey through the Americas.

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