Despite my previous post, Queensland’s rainforests were far from entirely unpleasant. The below caught me eye (and of course there were lots of interesting ferns too!).
Heavily pigmented unfurling frond of Blechnum cartilagineum. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
A lacy fungus. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
New Zealanders are pretty familiar with the koru, an unfurling fern frond. But Australia’s prickly tree fern, Cyathea leichhardtiana, does it a bit differently. It unfurls the leafy parts of a frond only after the “stem” parts of the frond (technically the rachis and the costae) are nearly fully extended. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
Inflorescence of the root parasite Balanophora. This is related to New Zealand’s bat-pollinated Dactylanthus. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
The attractive cycad Bowenia spectabilis. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
An unfurling frond of the Ptisana (Marattia) oreades, a relative of para, New Zealand’s king fern. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
