Genus Species Quotes

“Sturt's desert pea

Meaning: Have courage, take heart
Swainsona formosa | Inland Australia

Malukuru (Pit.) are famous for distinctive blood-red, leaf-like flowers, each with a bulbous black centre, similar to a kangaroo's eye. A striking sight in the wild: a blazing sea of red. Bird-pollinated and thrives in arid areas, but very sensitive to any root disturbance, which makes it difficult to propagate.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Blue pincushion

Meaning: I mourn your absence
Brunonia australis | All states and territories

A perennial found in woodlands, open forests and sand plains. Medium to deep blue flowers usually in spring, in hemispherical clusters on a tall stem. Can be difficult to establish. May die after a few years.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Cootamundra wattle

Meaning: I wound to heal
Acacia baileyana | New South Wales

Graceful tree with fern-like foliage and bright golden-yellow globe-shaped flower heads. Adaptable, hardy evergreen, easy to grow. Profuse flowering in winter. Heavily fragrant and sweetly scented. Produces abundant pollen, favored for feeding bees in the production of honey.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Black fire orchid

Meaning: Desire to possess
Pyrorchis nig'ricans|Western Australia

Needs fire to flower. Sprouts from bulbs that may have lain dormant. Deep crimson streaks on pale flesh. Turns black after flowering, as if charred.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Painted feather flower

Meaning: Tears
Verticordia picta | Southwestern Australia

A small to medium-sized shrub with pink, cupped flowers that are sweetly scented. Once established, it will only live for around ten years, with a profuse display of bright flowers over a long season. ”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Yellow bells

Meaning: Welcome to a stranger
Geleznowia verrucosa | Western Australia

A small shrub with great yellow flowers. Sun loving, drought tolerant and requiring a well-drained soil. Will grow in a little shade, but sun for most of the day is essential. Makes a wonderful cut flower, although fickleness in propagation and seed germination make this a rare plant.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Vanilla lily

Meaning: Ambassador of love
Sowerbaea juncea | Eastern Australia

Perennial with edible roots found in eucalyptus forests, woodlands, heaths, and sub-alpine meadows. Grass-like leaves have a strong scent of vanilla. Flowers are pink-lilac to white, papery, with sweet vanilla perfume. Resprouts after fire.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Thorn box

Meaning: Girlhood
Bursaria spinosa | Eastern Australia

Small tree or shrub with furrowed dark grey bark. Smooth branches are armed with thorns. Leaves yield pine-like fragrance when bruised. Sweetly scented white flowers bloom in summer. Provides nectar to butterflies and safety to small birds. Intricate architecture of thorns is much sought after by spiders for constructing webs.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“River Lily

Meaning: Love concealed
Crinum pedunculatum | Eastern Australia

Very large perennial usually found on the edge of forests, but also at the high-tide level close to mangroves. Fragrant, white slender star-shaped flowers. Seeds sometimes germinate while still attached to the parent plant. The sap has been used as a treatment for box jellyfish stings.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Pearl saltbush
Meaning: My hidden worth
Maireana sedifolia | South Australia and Northern Territory

Common in deserts and salty environments, this low shrub creates a fascinating ecosystem of almost hidden treasures: geckoes, fairy wrens, fungi and lichen colonies. Drought-tolerant, with silvery grey evergreen foliage that forms a dense groundcover that is fire-retardant.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Honey grevillea

Meaning: Foresight
Grevillea eriostachya | Inland Australia

Kaliny-kalinypa (Pitjantjatjara) is a straggly shrub with long narrow silver-green leaves that produces bright green, yellow and orange flowers. Commonly grows on red sandhills and dunes. The flowers contain thick, honey-like nectar, which can be sucked from the flowers; a favorite treat for Anangu children.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Flannel flower

Meaning:What is lost is found
Actinotus helianthi | New South Wales

The stem, branches and leaves of the plant are a pale grey, covered in downy hair, and flannel-like in texture. Pretty, daisy-shaped flower heads bloom in spring, though flowering may be profuse after bushfires.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Sticky everlasting

Meaning:My love will not leave you
Xerochrysum viscosum | New South Wales and Victoria

These paper-like flowers display hues of lemon, gold, and splotchy orange to fiery bronze.
They can be easily cut, dried, and preserved while retaining their stunning colors.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Striped mintbush

Meaning: Love forsaken
Prostanthera striatiflora | Centtral Australia

Found in rocky gorges and near outcrops. Very strongly mint-scented. Narrow leathery leaves. The white flower is bell-shaped with purple stripes inside the bloom and yellow spots in the throat. Should not be ingested, as it can cause difficulty in sleeping. Vivid dreams are also symptomatic.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Copper-cups

Meaning: My surrender
Pileanthus vernicosus | Western Australia

Slender woody shrub found in coastal heathlands, sand dunes and plains. Magnificent flowers ranging from red to orange and yellow. Flowering occurs in spring, on twiggy branchlets densely covered in small hardy leaves. Young floral buds bear a glossy oily coating.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“River red gum
Meaning: Enchantment
Eucalyptus camaldulensis | All states and territories

Iconic Australian tree. Smooth bark sheds in long ribbons. Has a large, dense crown of leaves. Seeds require regular spring floods to survive. Flowers late spring to mid-summer. Has the ominous nickname 'widow maker', as it often drops large boughs (up to half the diameter of the trunk) without warning.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Blue lady orchid

Meaning: Consumed by love
Thelymitra crinita | Western Australia

Perennial spring-flowering orchid. Flowers are intensely blue and form a delicate star shape. Does not need a bushfire to stimulate flowering, but can be smothered by other vegetation, so periodic burns to restrict taller-growing shrubs are beneficial.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Gorse bitter pea

Meaning: Ill-natured beauty
Daviesia ulicifolia | All states

Spiny shrub with stunning yellow and red pea flowers. Blooms in summer. Easy propagation from seed, following scarification. Seed retains viability for many years. Unpopular with gardeners for its very prickly habit, but beneficial to small birds as a refuge from predators.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Showy banksia

Meaning: I am your captive
Banksia speciosa | Western Australia and Southern Australia

Small tree that has thin leaves with prominent 'teeth'. Cream-yellow flower spikes appear throughout the year, which store seeds until opened by fire. The flowers attract nectar-feeding birds, particularly honeyeaters.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Orange Immortelle

Meaning: Written in the stars
Waitzia acuminata | Western Australia

Perennial with long, narrow leaves, and papery orange, yellow and white flowers. Spring blooming after winter rain. En masse these flowers are spectacular. Have been found in their millions across much of the scrub and desert in the west, with people often traveling long distances to see them.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Broad-leaved parkeelya

Meaning: By your love, I live and die
Calandrinia balonensis | Northern Territory

Parkilypa (Pit.) is a succulent growing in sandy soils of arid regions, with fleshy leaves and bright purple flowers, which appear mainly in winter and spring. In times of drought the leaves can be a water source; the whole plant can be baked and eaten.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Desert oak
Meaning: Resurrection
Allocasuarina decaisneana | Central Australia

Kurkara (Pit.) have deeply furrowed, cork-like bark, which is fire-retardant. Slow-growing but fast to develop a taproot that can reach subsurface water at depths over ten meters. Mature trees form a large, bushy canopy. Many found in the central desert are likely to be more than one thousand years old.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Lantern bush

Meaning: Hope may blind me
Abutilon leucopetalum | Northern Territory

Tjirin-tjrinpa (Pit.) is found in dry, often rocky inland regions. Leaves have a heart-shaped base. Yellow hibiscus-like flowers appear mostly in winter and spring, but can sometimes appear endlessly, their bright color shining all year round. Used by Anangu children to make small toy spears.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Bat's wing coral tree

Meaning: Cure for heartache
Erythrina vespertilio | Central and northeast Australia

Ininti (Pit.) wood is widely used for making spear throwers and bowls. Bark, fruit and stems are used for traditional medicine. Has bat's-wing-shaped leaves, and coral-colored flowers in spring/summer. Attractive, glossy bean-shaped seeds vary in color from deep yellow to blood red, and are used for decoration and jewelry.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Green birdflower

Meaning: My heart flees
Crotalaria cunninghamii | Mid to western states

Widespread on sandy soils in mulga communities and on sand dunes, this shrub bears soft hairs on thick and pithy branches. The flower resembles a bird attached by its beak to the central stalk of the flower head; yellow-green, streaked with fine purple lines. Blooms in winter and spring. Pollinated by large bees, and birds.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Foxtails
Meaning: Blood of my blood
Ptilotus | Inland Australia

Tjulpun-tjulpunpa (Pit.) are small shrubs that form spikes of purple flowers covered in dense white hairs. Leaves are covered in closely packed star-shaped hairs that slow the rate of water loss. Traditionally, women used the soft furry flowers to line wooden bowls in which babies could be carried.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Wheel of fire
Meaning: The color of my fate
Stenocarpus sinuatus | Queensland and New South Wales

Profuse bright red and orange flowers create a spectacular display from summer to autumn. Shaped like the spokes of a wheel before they open, these symmetrical blossoms get their name from their resemblance to a spinning fire.”
― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“Lily of the Valley
(Convallaria majalis)


Lily of the valley is known to slow the disturbed action of a weak and irritable heart, while at the same time increasing its power. As a heart medication, it is sometimes preferable to the digitalis made from the foxglove plant, because it is less toxic and does not accumulate in the blood. Lily of the valley has one of the most sexual scents of all plants and is widely used in perfume. No wonder it causes the heart to beat stronger.”
― Margot Berwin, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire

“Slipping past a patch of reeds, I slow to look for the purple gallinule, Porphyrula martinica. My father called it a pond chicken. No dead bird skin can capture the way this creature walks weightlessly over lily pads and floating reeds. That's why I've come out today, after all---to get the gizz of one purple pond chicken. I skim close to every clump of bulrush, wild rice, and pickerelweed. For a moment, the only sound is my paddle and the water. Then here come the moorhens, cousins to the gallinule, swimming around me. Their beaks are white, and their feathers are black, where the gallinule's are blue, violet, and rainbow-shine green. They start up with their high, collective cackle. "Listen to 'em laughing at us," my dad would say.
"Get out there," Estelle said, "before you lose touch." What exactly was that supposed to mean?
I spy a limpkin among the reeds, poking its tweezer-like beak in the mud for apple snails. Crying birds, they call them, because of the baleful sound they make trying to get a mate into their nest. It almost sounds like a baby's wail. I do a quick sketch of the limpkin's long legs and slender, curving bill, the variegation of its brown and white feathers.”
― Virginia Hartman, The Marsh Queen

“Jane and Noah fell silent as she opened it to the first page, a vibrant watercolor of a forest-green shrub laden with dark purple fruits, with the fruits shown in detail in a separate drawing. 'Aristotelia chilensis--- maqui berries,' said Jane. 'Full of antioxidants and touted as a "superfood" now.'
There was a note in pencil at the bottom of the page. 'Leaves used for brewing chicha,' Noah read. 'Whatever that is. "Sore throats, heals wounds, painkiller",' he continued. 'Extraordinary. I can't believe the condition it's in. It's scarcely aged at all.'
He turned the page to find a painting of a tall, oak-like tree with dark brown bark, oval-shaped green leaves and dense white flowers. 'Quillaja saponaria--- soapbark,' he read. 'Native soap, for the lungs and good health.”
― Kayte Nunn, The Botanist's Daughter