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I took this photo on a visit to Wittunga Botanic Gardens with a friend. The image is of a Protea. I don't know which one as there are lots of them.
Wittunga Botanic Garden:
History:
Wittunga at Blackwood in the Adelaide Hills was established by Mr Edwin Ashby in 1901, and was generously given to the State by his son Mr Keith Ashby and family in 1965. The garden is managed by the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and was first opened to the public in 1975.
Edwin Ashby originally created a formal English garden at Wittunga with herbaceous borders, roses, trellises and arbours. However, his fascination in the native plants of Australia and South Africa led to the development of a most interesting and different garden, part of which remains today.
Wittunga’s displays of Australian and South African plants are especially spectacular in spring and include rich collections of Erica, Leucadendron, and Protea, complemented by displays of exotic and unusual bulbs and colourful annuals. The majority of the South African plants in the garden come from the Cape Province district which has a climate similar to that of Adelaide.
The Australian collection features plants from the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, southern Western Australia and includes a fine collection of eucalypts. Meandering pathways through the Terrace and Sandplain Gardens give visitors the opportunity to see these distinctive and colourful collections. Many different birds can be seen attracted by the good supplies of nectar produced by the flowers of plants in the collection.
Wittunga Naming Walk
A new interpretive trail was opened on 7th March 2001(International Volunteers Day) by the then Minister for the Environment at Wittunga Botanic Garden. The Friends of the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide, the peak volunteer organisation for the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide, provided funds for the development and installation of the trail. Since the then Minister was also responsible for the Volunteers portfolio, the opening of the Naming Walk provided an ideal opportunity to mention and recognise the valuable contributions of all volunteers.
The concept of the Naming Walk is to demonstrate how plants are named scientifically and the origins of the names whether from a person or characteristic of the plant. There are twenty four independent interpretative signs installed throughout the garden, stationed alongside the appropriate plant.
Collections and Displays
Wittunga is a botanic garden which grows plants from the south west of Australia and South Africa which enable comparisons to be made between these two ancient floras of Gondwana.
Collections include Australian Myrtaceae (Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Leptospermum, Callistemon and Kunzea) and Proteaceae (Banksia, Grevillea, Hakea, Leucadendron, Leucospermum and Protea), and South African Ericaceae (Erica), southern Western Australian wildflowers and the South African fynbos (heathland).
Proteas
Proteas are native to southern Africa and belong to the same family of plants (the family Proteaceae) as the Australian banksias, grevilleas and waratahs. The name ‘protea’ is commonly used to refer not only to plants in the genus Protea, but also to plants in two other genera from southern Africa: Leucadendron and Leucospermum.
The family Proteaceae is an ancient family of plants with a Gondwanan ancestry — it was one of the earliest groups of flowering plants and was able to disperse and diversify throughout Gondwana before the supercontinent disintegrated. With about 1600 species, it is one of the plant groups which now dominate the southern hemisphere floras.
PP Work:
RAW to JPEG
Cropped image slightly
Altered contrast and brightness levels a tad
Sharpened image a tad
Hope you like it! Thanks for looking and for your comments and critiques. Cheers Tina :-) |
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