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Welcome to Life Images by Jill.........Stepping into the light and bringing together the images and stories of our world. I am a photographer, writer and multi-media artist.
Focussing mainly on Western Australia and Australia, I am seeking to preserve images and memories of the beautiful world in which we live and the people in it.

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Showing posts with label mallet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mallet. Show all posts

Sunday, 11 October 2026

Wildflowers in the Dryandra Woodland, Western Australia

 Hi all, I hope you and yours are doing well. Here in Western Australia spring has sprung, and we have had a mixture of rain and cool nights, and then a burst of summer sun. 

I hope you enjoyed my last post from our recent camping trip with our friends, and Meeting a Numbat and other Wildlife in the Dryandra Woodland, Western Australia. As promised I am back to share some wildflowers from Dryandra with you. 


Dryandra Woodland National Park, located just a couple of hours south of Perth, and north east of our home in the South West of Western Australia, has a several walking tracks ranging from 1km to 12.5 km, so there is plenty of opportunity to see wildflowers, especially during spring. 

Spread over 27,000 hectares, there is a mixture of woodlands in Dryandra, ranging from marri, jarrah, wandoo, sheoak and mallet trees, and soil types creating environments for over 850 species of plants. With less than 7%of the original vegetation remaining the the western wheatbelt, Dryandra is of critical conservation importance. 

We camped at Gnaala Mia campground, so our first walk was along the 3km walk trail that circles the Gnaala Mia campground. If you recall in my last post, we saw numbats and echidnas along this trail, as well as wildflowers. 


Please note I am not a botanist, but I will do my best to identify the plants.

Below is the Pink Coneflower - Isopogon crithmifolius - a shrub which grows to about 1.8 metes tall with gorgeous showy pink flowers August to November.  



Below are three examples of different Petrophiles. The one on the right is Tangled Petrophile - Petrophile divaricata. 


Below is the Golden Dryandra - Banksia (Dryandra) bobilis. There are 92 species of Dryandra, all entirely endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. In 2007 the species of Dryandra was abosorbed into the family of Banksia. 

In the collage below you can see 4 stages - the flower forming, known as the perianth. As the flower opens the styles detach and curl or loop outwards. The final stage is a pincushion look. 


The Golden Dryandra is a tall shrub to four metres tall, and its flowers are up to 50 millimetres in diameter. Old leaves persist giving the shrub a brown, shaggy appearance. The shrubs can form dense impenetrable stands which provide safe havens for woylies to nest in.  
I think they look very sculptural and somewhat prehistoric. 


I believe this is another of the Dryandras - possibly Pingle - Banksia (Dryandra) squarrosa. You will note the prickly leaves that are a feature of Dryandras and Banksias. Hence why the bushes are impenetrable! There are a lot of prickly bushes in the Australian bush. 


Below is Parrot Bush - Banksia (Dryandra) sessilis. The Noongar peoples know the plant as budjan or butyak. Below you can see the stages of the flower forming.



I believe this to be the King Dryandra - Banksia (Dryandra) proteoides. The large flower heads are surrounded by reddish-orange bracts which remain on the branches for many years. I'm sharing this photo that I took on a trip to Dryandra in June 2023. 


Below is Styphelia acervata (kick bush) a low prostrate ground hugging plant which features stiff, tough foliage with sharp tips on the end of each leaf. 

The plant produces small berries (karlburi) that are a traditional bush tucker food. The local Noongar people (who call the plant Cadgeegurrup) traditionally use a stick to carefully pick through the sharp leaves to harvest the fruit, however early settlers used their boots to kick the flat clumps over to expose the underside. Not very eco friendly! 

I thought I had a photo of the whole plant, but found that I don't.


Below you can see two types of Quandongs - on the left the Desert / Sweet Quandong - Santalum acuminatum -  with the broader leaf. On the right with the narrow leaf is the Bitter Quandong - Santalum murrayanum. Both are parasitic plants belonging to the Sandlewood family. Both are also edible, but the Sweet Quandong has a much better flavour. I have made jam with them in the past, and they are delicious. The green ones in this picture are not yet ripe. Trust me you don't want to sample the Bitter Quandongs - yes very bitter even when ripe!


Below is the Painted Lady - Gompholobium scabrum. This slender shrub grows to about 1.5 metres tall. The beautiful pea flowers range in colour from pink to mauve and flowers July to October.  We saw this bush on the way to the Lol Grey walk trail. 


Below is Sandplain Poison - Gastrolobium microcarpum - a bushy shrub to 1.5 metres tall which flowers August to October. You see them all over Dryandra. It contains fluoroacetate, which is highly toxic to introduced mammals, such as cats and foxes, but has little effect on native mammals. This toxin has been manufactured synethetically and is called 1080, and has been used to reduce numbers of introduced foxes in Dryandra under the Western Shield program. You can read more here - Australian Geographic - the plant that saved the numbats


Below are a few wild orchids. We found the best place to find them was on the flat grasslands around the old rail formation on Congelin Siding walk. There is also a camping area in this area. 

Below you can see clockwise from top left - Primrose spider orchid, one of the red spider orchids, jug orchid, possibly the Blue Beard orchid, Little Laughing Leek Orchid, one of the cowslip orchids, a group of cowslips, Sugar orchid, and in the centre, my favourite the Lemon Scentred Sun Orchid also known as the Vanilla Orchid. 


Lemon Scented Sun Orchid also known as the Vanilla Orchid - Thelymitra antennifera. Flowering September to early October, it is a common orchid from Shark Bay to the Great Australian Bight, and inland to the Goldfields. Only 2-3 cm wide, I love their little faces which look like, to me, like they are wearing sun glasses. 


We had never seen the Primrose Spider orchid before - Caladenia xantha.  It is always lovely to see something new. At first we thought we had discovered the rare Lemon Spider Orchid - Caladenia luteola - but were advised it was actually the Primrose Spider orchid. No matter - it was a special find for us. 


And those flowers I shared last week? I believe these to be 3 varieties of Hakea - a genus of about 150 species of shrubs and small trees in the Proteaceae family and closely related to Banksias and Grevillias. I am thinking as they were growing near the Arboretum, they were probably planted. But so gorgeous don't you think?  More info here - Dryandra Aboretum 


If you would like an overview of Dryandra, the 23km Darwinia Drive is a good one to follow, with information boards at five pull-over bays, with short walks. The information bays highlight the different soil types and plants of Dryandra. It is a good gravel road suitable for 2WD, and easily done in a morning or afternoon, but why not slow down and take a picnic!


One of the walks we did was the Woylie Walk, a 5.5km circuit trail starting at the Old Mill Dam picnic area. The walk went through a variety of woodlands of wandoo, powderbark, kongan heath, jarrah, rock sheoak and mallet plantations. 

The ground beneath mallet trees is unusually bare. The bark has a 55% tannin content - one of a group of chemicals that prevents other plants germinating, resulting in bare earth under the trees. This is known as allelopathy which reduces competition for nutrients, water and light. The trees dense canopy screens out sunlight, further inhibiting undergrowth. The bare earth also inhibits bush fires. 

I wrote a comprehensive blog post about mallet trees in 2023 - where you can read about the mallet trees, the plantations and the mallet industry here - Walking through the mallet trees in the Dryandra Woodland


Honestly there are so many wildflower species in Dryandra - over 850 in fact - it would take me forever to photograph, identify and share them with you. But below are a few more. 
The gorgeous red one in the centre is the Grey-leaved Bottlebrush - Beaufortia incana 


I hope you have enjoyed coming to Dryandra with me. 

More info at - 


From my blog you might also like - 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I appreciate every one of you and value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

If you are looking for a translate button - it's there near the top on the right hand side. 

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Saturday, 17 June 2023

Walking through the mallet trees in the Dryandra Woodland, Western Australia

 Hi everyone - I hope you and yours are doing well. Last time we met I took you to the Dryandra Woodland National Park where we met an echidna. If you missed it you can see it by clicking here - Meeting an Echidna in the Dryandra Woodland


This week we are going back to Dryandra to learn about the brown mallet tree industry. 

Have you ever wondered where the hard wood of your axe handle came from? In the past in Western Australia it may have been harvested from brown mallet plantations in the Dryandra Woodland. Many of the walk trails in Dryandra pass through stands of mallet trees. 

It is believed the name mallet is derived from the Aboriginal word ‘maalok’.

The Brown Mallet - Eucalypt astringens - is a straight, slender tree growing to 15-20 metres with cream to pale yellow flowers in summer. It typically grows on clay soils below breakaways and is easily recognised by curling flakes of brown bark revealing smooth coppery new bark. You can see the bark in this picture. 

The bark has a 55% tannin content, one of a group of chemicals that prevents other plants germinating, resulting in bare earth under the trees. This is known as allelopathy which reduces competition for nutrients, water and light. The trees dense canopy screens out sunlight, further inhibiting undergrowth.

In the early to mid-1900s mallet bark was harvested for the leather tanning industry.

By 1929 natural stands of mallet had almost disappeared due to fire damage, land clearing for agriculture, and settlers over-stripping immature trees for bark for extra income. This prompted the Forest Department to establish plantations to preserve the species and ensure a supply of bark.

Between the 1925 and 1962 about 19,000 acres (7,600 hectares) of mallet were planted in what is now known as Dryandra, north-west of Narrogin. It is the only endemic hardwood plantation in Western Australia. During the Depression the Government’s sustenance labour scheme employed men to clear land and plant mallet. Six to seven men walking in a line sowed approximately 10 acres of mallet seed per day.

Mallets regenerate from seed, but are easily killed by fire so the Forest Department built five fire lookout towers. The remains of two of these can be seen at the start of the Lol Grey walk trail and on Contine Hill. Wide firebreaks were essential as the radiant heat from a fire 20-60 metres away can kill a stand of mallet. 

20kms from the Dryandra campsites, Contine Hill has a picnic area, walk trails, information about the life of the lookout keepers, and expansive elevated views over trees and paddocks. 


Demand for mallet bark declined in the 1960s due to cheaper synthetic products. Despite its strength and straight grain mallet wood wasn’t considered viable for a timber industry except for tool handle manufacture, fence posts and firewood, and a few minor industries including musical instruments and walking sticks.

The strength of the mallet wood has been determined to be as hard as, if not harder, than the American hickory. 

Unfortunately mallet is susceptible to termite attack, so they began soaking the mallet fence posts in creosote and oil which proved very effective. You can still see mallet fence posts in use today. 

Between 1942 and 1944, Mr Cohen ran an axe-handle manufacturing business in Midland. In the 1960s local farmer, Arthur Hunter, started manufacturing tool heads and handles from wandoo, powderbark and brown mallet, producing about 100,000 handles a year. The excess wood was used for fence posts and firewood ensuring the complete utilisation of the wood.

The sowing of mallet for commercial purposes ceased in 1955, when the Government realised the conservation and tourism importance of Dryandra. However it wasn’t until 17 January 2022 that Dryandra was declared a National Park. Today the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) work to balance the Dryandra Woodland Management Plan with environment conservation strategies.  

There are a number of walk trails in Dryandra of varying lengths and degrees of difficulty. The 3.3km Kawana loop trail takes you through brown mallet plantations.

The 23km Darwinia Drive has five interpretive stopping places describing the woodlands and the interdependence of species.

The seventeen woodland blocks, totalling 28,000 hectares, that make up The Dryandra Woodland National Park is one of the largest and most valuable conservation areas of the western wheatbelt. Considered a biodiversity hotspot with more than 850 plant species, the woodland protects many threatened animal species, like the numbat, woylie and phascogale.

Here is one of the Dryandras - Golden Dryandra – Banksia nobilis – one of the Dryandra varieties in the park for which the park is named. 

I can't help it - I love bark!

I have been asked if didgeridoos were made out of mallet trees. I am thinking that they could have been in southern Western Australia, particularly as they are susceptible to termite attack. But I really don't know. But I know I love the music of the didgeridoo - particularly if we hear someone playing one when we have been camping. 

From the net - Traditionally, a didgeridoo was made from a eucalyptus tree that was eaten out by termites. In the northern part of Australia, where the didgeridoo originated, the type of eucalyptus tree was usually the Wooly Butt gum, or, another kind the Stringy Box gum. murruppi.com/how-a-didgeridoo-is-made

I was also asked about peeling bark - and found this on the net - Shedding eucalyptus tree bark may help keep the tree healthy. As the tree sheds its bark, it also sheds any mosses, lichens, fungi, and parasites that may live on the bark. Some peeling bark can perform photosynthesis, contributing to the rapid growth and overall health of the tree. Gardeningknowhow.com

Where is it: Dryandra is 31 kms north west of Narrogin and 173kms south east of Perth, via the York-Williams Road or the Wandering-Narrogin Road.

Caravan, camper trailer and tent camping at Gnaala Mia and Congelin Dam campsite. Drop toilet, bbqs, no power or water. Cottages at Lions Dryandra Woodland Village.

More information: DBCA:Explore Parks -  https://exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au/park/dryandra-woodland-national-park

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   

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