Miscellaneous Fruit and Flowers

	Dicksonia antarctica (foreground) Captured during a trip across the Erinundra Plateau in Victoria Australia. This is a rare area of temperate rain forest which has unfortunately been subjected to intense logging last century. Thankfully pristine areas remain to evoke one's spirit. The tall slender trees are Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans). This species is amongst the tallest trees known with one scecimen reaching a height of 126 meters. Lightening strike subsequently reduced its height to 80 meters.

	*Kiwi Fruit* Water droplets have been beautifully caught on the twinning foliage of this Kiwi Fruit. Originating in China, this plant is widely grown in New Zealand and Southern Australia. Thriving in cooler conditions, the Kiwi Fruit will produce abundant oval - squarish shaped fruit with a hairy skin. All of the fruit is edible but only the purists eat the hairy skin.

	*Haemanthus coccinea* These short stemmed Haemanthus flowers contrast beautifully against the black background giving the stamens and petals an almost luminous aura.

	*Hakea laurina* Native to a very small area in Western Australia, this tree is grown throughout Southern Australia and is much loved for its masses of pincushion like flowers which attract nectar feeding birds. This photo shows the various stages of the flower opening. Flowering in Autumn, Hakea laurina provides a colourful display as winter approaches.

	*Gardenia* Photographed at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, this sweetly scented Gardenia has interestingly curled petals and an elongated corolla tube.