Gunniopsis tenuifolia, the Narrow-leaf Pigface, growing in sand around the Cutaway outcrop to the south of Copley, northern Flinders Ranges. They are uncommon and endemic to South Australia, growing between Leigh Creek and the Painted Desert to the north of Coober Pedy.
Acacia confluens, the Arkaroola Wattle, is a small shrub with crescent shaped phyllodes which grows at Mt Lyndhurst and Arkaroola. Seen here in the steep stony hills of Arkaroola, north Flinders Ranges.
African Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum), introduced from Africa for spikey hedge fences, is considered a noxious weed. With similarities to Goji Berry, the fruit (when ripened to red) is edible. Seen here fruiting in October at Warren Gorge, near Quorn.
The spiny daisy (acanthocladium dockeri) was first discovered by Dr Hermann Beckler (of the Burke /Wills expedition) in 1861 near Menindee (Pamamaroo), NSW. The specimen was sent back to the Royal Society and described and named by Dr Ferdinand Mueller. A further specimen was unable to be located until a discovery in 1910 at Overland Corner (near Kingston-on-Murray). Many years later, the species was pronounced extinct – until, in 1999, a local farmer discovered an outcrop near his farm, not far from Laura. The species is being translocated by environmentalists seeking to recover the plant from its present situation, critically endangered.
Halgania cyanea, known as Rough Halgania, is a small sub-shrub that is widely distributed throughout Australian arid lands, and is also adaptable to temperate climates. A variable species, its growth habit at Crystal Brook in the Flinders Ranges is small and sparse (up to 25cm), with flowers (>10mm) with slightly rounded petals in early spring.
A stand of flowering Eremophila scoparia (Broombush) in Parachilna Gorge was teeming with insect life in spring.
Acacia ligulata, the Sandhill Wattle, flowering in September in Parachilna Gorge in the Flinders Ranges.
Acacia calamifolia, also known as Wallowa, flowering in September in Parachilna Gorge in the Flinders Ranges.
Domino bee (Thyreus lugubris) feeding on Eremophila duttonii at Wilpoorinna, north of the Flinders Ranges.
Green Emubush, Eremophila serrulata, flowering on the rocky slopes of the Acacia Ridge Trail, Arkaroola.
