The Green Bird Flower - Western Australia

Can you see the birds? 

We really do have the most amazing wildflowers here in Western Australia. I feel blessed to be able to see them. 

The Green Bird flower - Crotalaria cunninghammii - are one of those Western Australia wildflowers that always excite me when I see them. Listed as "uncommon" in my wildflower book - I have been lucky now to have seen them 4 times in the wild. 

The first time was in July 2014 in Booroothunty Creek between Mount Augustus and the Kennedy Ranges in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It was growing in the dry river bed, and even though a rather poor scraggly specimen I was excited to see it. Here it is below here. 

Then in August 2016 I saw them again in the sand dunes of the Cape Keraudren Coastal Reserve, located on the coast in from Pardoo Roadhouse on the Great Northern Highway between Port Hedland and Broome. Eureka! 

Last year in July 2019 on the first leg of our half lap of Australia we saw them again on the side of the road north of Carnarvon. Well my husband spotted them and stopped the car. I have no idea how he sees these things while he is driving at 110km/hour!  He has very good long distance eyesight. The plant is quite distinctive with grey-green leaves and bright green flowers. 

The Green Birdflower is a short-lived perennial shrub 0.6-4 metres high with grey velvety stem. It is a member of the pea family and the flowers are yellow-green 20-50 mm long in a spike 50-250mm long and 50-70mm wide. The leaves are velvety, grey-green, and the seed pod is egg-shaped with a sharp point and contains about 20 seeds. It generates rapidly after fire and is pollinated by large bees and honeyeaters.

The Green Birdflower is a plant of the legume family Fabaceae, and is named for the shape of its flowers.  Its scientific name came from early 19th century botanist Allan Cunningham who collected it in 1822 from Cygnet Bay north of Broome. The Bardi aboriginal name for this plant is oorlgoo, and the Yawuru call it minmin.

Evidently you can eat the top part of the flower, drink the nectar, and the sap from the leaves was used by Aboriginal people to treat eye infections. Atlas of Living Australia

You can also read more about it here:

Botanic Garden & Parks Authority, Western Australia

ABC - Gardening Australia  - including a video

Flora Base

We have just returned from a trip to Coral Bay, Exmouth and Kalbarri on Western Australia's Coral Coast, and true to form, my husband spotted the Green Bird Flower on the side of the road when we were driving into Coral Bay. In this collage below you can see the bud, the flowers and the pods. They really are beautiful. 

Now that we knew that we were in the flowering time - March to December - we were on the lookout for it and we weren't disappointed, finding it at the Potshot and Krait Memorial on the road into Exmouth. 

Although listed as "uncommon" it seems it has a wide distribution across Australia, mainly in dryer areas. 

Read my previous post about the Green Bird Flower here - Finding the Green Bird Flower and Cape Keraudren

I hope you and yours are doing ok in these troubling times, and that you have had a chance for some relief and time out in nature. 

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. 
 

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