Weeds to us, but..........

[Ross the fiddler]

These may be considered weeds here in Oz, but the flower of this one is a national emblem to others. My wife will expect me to pull this out, but I will wait till I get some flowers to photograph.






Then there is this pretty flower but a curse to farmers, being known as Paterson's Curse.




But, here comes a bee that certainly appreciates the flowers.








As well as this Plantain flower head. I think it's Long Leaf Plantain (Plantago lanceolata).



And then there are the opportunists!




Oh no! Not bee for dinner!





All taken with E-M5 & M60 macro lens with (clip on) pop-up flash.

Thanks for looking. BTW, I love the lens!

[cariadus]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

Wow, fantastic shots, especially like No 4 with the bee just coming into shot. Not easy to capture a bee in flight as I know only too well. No wonder you love that lens!

[David Morison]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

Brilliant shots. I am well known as a lover of "weeds" and in fact spend a good part of my Spring and summer looking for them and bugs etc. in and around the local hedgerows. It never ceases to amaze me at the beauty in nature that is either in the wrong place of two small to be noticed. If only more people took the time to look and study nature more.......

David

[Seonnaidh]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

Lovely images Ross. I've just sent you a PM. Hope you don't mind.

[wanderer]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

Very fine. It looked familiar and it is related to Viper's Bugloss which is one of our native wildflowers. I read up why it is a problem.
The thistle is known here as a Jaggy thistle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thistle

and this why we like it.

[Chevvyf1]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

Ross, many thanks for such a joyful story and illustrations terrific shots, esp. of the bees

Is Patersons Curse related to Penstimons ? it look alike

[wanderer]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

Its a Echium. (not an ecky thump).

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

Wow, fantastic shots, especially like No 4 with the bee just coming into shot. Not easy to capture a bee in flight as I know only too well. No wonder you love that lens!

Thanks Roger. I thought the half a bee shot shouldn't be wasted & that it would work OK for the story line.

Brilliant shots. I am well known as a lover of "weeds" and in fact spend a good part of my Spring and summer looking for them and bugs etc. in and around the local hedgerows. It never ceases to amaze me at the beauty in nature that is either in the wrong place of two small to be noticed. If only more people took the time to look and study nature more.......

David

Thanks David. I agree, as some of our weeds do look quite special & especially the small ones up close. It's just the invasion of bush & rural areas that it becomes a problem. It's just as well the worst invasion, us people, aren't eradicated then.

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

Lovely images Ross. I've just sent you a PM. Hope you don't mind.

Thanks for the compliments. I hope my reply to your message made sense.

Very fine. It looked familiar and it is related to Viper's Bugloss which is one of our native wildflowers. I read up why it is a problem.
The thistle is known here as a Jaggy thistle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thistle

and this why we like it.

Thanks Duncan. We have always commonly referred to it as 'Scotch Thistle', but on looking it up, maybe it isn't (or to be more correct, the botanical name needs to be known). When it flowers (as long as someone hasn't pulled it out), I will get some photos of it & look up the identity to verify it properly (that's what comes from marrying a botanist ). Thanks for the link to look up.

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

Ross, many thanks for such a joyful story and illustrations terrific shots, esp. of the bees

Is Patersons Curse related to Penstimons ? it look alike

Thanks for the compliments.

Its a Echium. (not an ecky thump).

That's right. Here is a quote from the CSIRO web page, "Paterson's curse, Echium plantagineum (known as Salvation Jane in South Australia) is an introduced winter annual from the Mediterranean."

To answer Chevvy's question on Penstimon, yes it is related as seen here with both being in the family Plantaginaceae.

[Guest]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

All good Ross, and tell your good wife that she is being less than patriotic in demanding you pull the Scotch Thistle ... I love the iconic Scotch Thistle, must be my Irish side coming out !
btw, shot this(tle on the track into Mungo NP, looks like a variant of your ancestral National Emblem, Ross.

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Weeds to us, but..........

All good Ross, and tell your good wife that she is being less than patriotic in demanding you pull the Scotch Thistle ... I love the iconic Scotch Thistle, must be my Irish side coming out !
btw, shot this(tle on the track into Mungo NP, looks like a variant of your ancestral National Emblem, Ross.

That's a beauty Mark. Maybe it's her botanist training & the influence of her 'tree hugging' lecturer (literally, he used to get the sudents to hug the trees on field excursions). I think it might be the guy that still sometimes makes news appearances on enviromental issues, like the Darling & Murry Rivers situation. I like the thistles when they're in full bloom (they look rather sad as they die off though), so long as they aren't in any place that we can walk into, but for our enviroment, we shouldn't let them spread into our bush. There was a great specimen growing several years ago in the park in a sheltered spot at the top of the Leura Cascades (up the Blue Mountains) & it was at least 6 foot tall.

There might be Scottish back in the family & the interest is there with the music (& dance), but my old man was a 'scouser'.