Spring is here which can only mean one thing – hayfever! Oh and wildflowers. Meghan’s got the lowdown on where to find native wildflowers around regional Victoria. Let’s go flower-spotting!

The Spring Sun Has Arrived

To survive through winter, especially during a lockdown, I tend to go into hibernation. So the first few sunny days of spring are incredible, they jolt me out of my winter blues and make me want to race out into the forest. Plus they bring out the spring wildflowers!

With regional Victoria emerging from lockdown, it’s the perfect time for a weekend wildflower adventure. Here’s a tiny selection of the huge number of wildflowers to look for this spring in Victoria.

Blue Pincushion – Brunonia australis

Blue Pincushions are a herb that grows close to the ground and could easily be mistaken for a weedy dandelion when not in flower. If you spot these blue beauties flowering and have a close look, you’ll see that the round blue flower ball is actually made up of heaps of tiny little blue flowers! They’re widespread across Victoria in damp woodland forests.

Where to find them: Grampians National Park, Wilsons Promontory National Park and Warby-Ovens National Park

Flowering: October – January

 

Button Everlasting – Coronidium scorpioides

Button Everlasting is also a herb that grows close to the ground, looking similar to Blue Pincushions when not in flower. When they are in flower though, they have a bright yellow, dry papery flower, which is very popular with insects. They bloom on mass the first spring after a fire but can still be found popping up long after a fire has passed through. They’re widespread across Victoria in woodland forests with well-drained soils.

Where to find them: Cobboboonee National Park, Brisbane Ranges National Park, and Mt Buffalo National Park

Flowering: September – February

 

Chocolate Lily – Arthropodium strictum

Chocolate Lilies exist as an underground tuber for most of the year, sprouting narrow strappy leaves before flowering in spring. If you’re lucky enough to walk past a big patch of these pretty purple lilies on a warm spring day, you may be struck with a sudden sugar craving as the smell of chocolate wafts over you (seriously, they smell delicious). They’re common throughout grasslands and woodlands in Victoria.

Where to find them: Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park, Mount Cole State Forest, and Mount Alexander Regional Park

Flowering: October – December

 

Common Heath – Epacris impressa

Common Heath is a small shrub growing 1-3m tall. Back in 1958, Victoria was the first state in Australia to officially adopt a floral emblem, and we chose Common Heath! Its flowers range from white through to a deep shade of pink. They’re common right across Victoria in woodlands and heathlands.

Where to find them: Little Desert National Park, Wombat State Forest, and Croajingolong National Park

Flowering: All year round but mainly April to November

 

Grass Trigger Plant – Stylidium armeria

Grass Trigger Plants are a tufted herb, existing underground over winter and sprouting strappy leaves in spring before flowering. They’re called trigger plants because they have a really interesting way of spreading their pollen.

If you have a close look at one of their tiny flowers, you’ll notice a column bent behind the flower. When an insect lands on the flower, it triggers the column, and in the blink of an eye, the column snaps across the front of the flower and smacks the insect on the back, covering it in pollen. The column then resets, ready for the next unsuspecting insect to come along. 

Grass Trigger Plants can be found in woodlands across Victoria.

Where to find them: Ross Creek State Forest, Mt Buffalo National Park, and Baw Baw National Park

Flowering: August – February

 

Happy Wanderer – Hardenbergia violacea

Happy Wanderer – another way to describe me on a sunny spring weekend – but also the name of this gorgeous creeper. In spring, they become absolutely laden with tiny purple flowers and are a popular garden plant. Happy Wanderer is widespread across dry woodlands in Victoria, but you’re also likely to find some in a garden near you.

Where to find them: Brisbane Ranges National Park, Morwell National Park, and Croajingolong National Park

Flowering: August – November

 

Love Creeper – Comesperma volubile

Love Creeper is a twining creeper with almost no leaves and a stem only a few millimetres wide, so it’s easily missed most of the year until in flower. Love Creeper is a bit particular about opening its tiny little blue flowers, so you’ll need to look for this one on a warm sunny day. It’s widespread in heathlands and woodlands across Victoria.

Where to find them: Great Otway National Park, Lerderderg State Park, and Coopracambra National Park

Flowering: August – November

 

Prickly Tea-tree – Leptospermum continentale

Prickly Tea-tree is a shrub that grows 1-2m tall. In spring they’re covered in small white flowers, which, on a warm sunny day, will likely be teeming with butterflies, beetles, and all kinds of other insects.

For some reason, I’ve always loved the shape of those cute little white flowers and ended up getting a tattoo of them a few years back. Prickly Tea-tree can be found scattered throughout heathlands and woodlands across Victoria.

Where to find them: Budj Bim National Park, Cape Liptrap Coastal Park, and Wilsons Promontory National Park

Flowering: September – February

 

Rusty Bush-Pea – Pultenaea hispidula

Rusty Bush-pea is a branched shrub 0.5-2m tall, with drooping branches and hairy stems and leaves. In spring they become covered in clusters of tiny yellow flowers. The genus Pultenaea is endemic to Australia, which means they’re only found here and nowhere else, and we have over 120 species! They can be found in well drained soils in woodlands across Victoria.

Where to find them: Black Range State Park, Wilsons Promontory National Park, and Croajingolong National Park

Flowering: September – December

 

Scented Paperbark – Melaleuca squarrosa

Scented Paperbark is a small tree growing up to 10m tall. They have creamy bottlebrush shaped flowers and, as you can probably guess by the name, distinctive papery bark. They live in wet soils in swampy areas of woodlands and heathlands across Victoria.

Where to find them: Lower Glenelg National Park, Cape Liptrap Coastal Park, and Cape Conran Coastal Park.

Flowering: September – February

 

Spotted Sun-orchid – Thelymitra ixioides

Spotted Sun-orchids, like most other orchids, exist as an underground tuber most of the year. They sprout a single strappy leaf before flowering in spring. You have to plan ahead to spot a Sun-orchid flowering. They’re very particular and typically only open on a warm sunny day, hence the name Sun-orchid.

There are 43 species of Sun-orchid in Victoria, and a few of those species don’t even need to open their flowers at all if they don’t feel like it, they can self-pollinate! Spotted Sun-orchids can be found in woodlands and heathlands across Victoria.

Where to find them: Cobboboonee National Park, Warby-Ovens National Park, and Wilsons Promontory National Park

Flowering: September – December

 

Wallflower Orchid – Diuris orientis

Like the Spotted Sun-orchid, the Wallflower Orchid exists as an underground tuber most of the year. It sprouts 2-3 small strappy leaves before flowering. There are 21 different species of Diuris in Victoria, which are collectively known as donkey orchids because of their distinctive ear-like petals. Wallflower Orchids can be found across woodlands in Victoria.

Where to find them: Grampians National Park, Brisbane Ranges National Park, and Wilsons Promontory National Park

Flowering: September – November

 

Wattle – Acacia

There are more species of wattles in Australia than any other genus (with Eucalypts coming in at a close second) and there are over 100 different species in Victoria. They range in size from tall trees to small shrubs that hug the ground. If you head out to have a look for wattles now, you’ll probably find some just before they finish flowering for the year. Wattles grow in a range of different habitats, so you’ll be hard pressed to find a bushwalk where you don’t spot one!

Where to find them: Any forest walk in Victoria!

Flowering: Depends on the species, but many flower from July – November

Stop & Smell The Native Wildflowers

There are well over 2700 species of native plants in Victoria, so this is just a drop in the ocean of spectacular wildflowers that you may come across on your travels this spring.

So, emerge from under your doona, get out there and make sure you stop to smell the flowers! Don’t pick them though, we want those gorgeous little things to make babies so we can see more of them next year.

Instead, check out the iNaturalist App, where you can upload photos of the different species you find on your adventures. The app makes suggestions of what species you’re looking at if you’re unsure, and you can get help from other iNaturalist users to identify species too. By logging your sightings, you can help scientists learn more about our natural environment.