Visitors to Foxes Lair each summer could be forgiven for thinking that many understorey plants have died, but each winter they burst into life again.
There are many plant strategies for coping with our seasonal droughts.
Each November, the marri trees drop some leaves to reduce their water use, and orchids survive as twin underground bulbs (‘orchis’ is the Greek word for testicle).
True specialists are resurrection plants that completely dry out but, become green and active within days of rain. Examples are lichens (OK not plants) and Borya species “Pincushion plants’ on granite rocks (see Borya sphaerocephala on left).
The compact bush tucker plant Kickbush (Astroloma acervatum) is a common example
Random comment – why do taxonomists use the Latin word humilis for smaller?
As a person of moderate stature, I regard this as heightist bias, and certainly feel no humility towards my larger brethren (poor souls).
Have you ever wondered why Australia has no cacti and few succulents compared to other countries?
Succulent plants rely on salts in their cells to retain large amounts of water. Their evolution has not been favoured on most of our soils which have formed on very leached and weathered materials, except in saline basins where one finds salt tolerant succulents like Bluebush, Pigface, and Samphire.