27/04/2026
Not all roadsides are w**dy wastelands.
Fiona and Nick have been doing some threatened species surveys around the state. They made this little video to highlight how even the most modified locations, such as roadsides, can often contain some very special plants which could be easily overlooked.
This also highlights how confusing common names can be in the world of flora. Fiona is notoriously bad at common names (she tends to prefer the botanical names as she finds it easier for some strange reason), as you can see here, getting the common names of two species of Pultenaea mixed up…. Pultenaea prostrata is known as the ’silky bush pea’, whereas this one here, Pultenaea humilis, is known as the ‘dwarf bush pea’…
Common names definitely have their place, but they can also quite easily cause confusion. Especially when the same species might have a different common name depending upon which state you are in. And sometimes the same common name is used in different parts of the world for totally different species. Such as in Australia ‘dogwood’ generally means species in the genus Pomaderris, however if you are in the states (and also sometimes in the horticulture trade in Australia) dogwood can mean species in the genus Cornus…
Some botanical names can be hard to pronounce (and spell), but go and give it a crack!