A trip to Tasmania, early 2021

[Maggi Young]

Euphrasia gibbsiae subsp. discolor
Broad leaved eye bright.
A semi parasitic herb with a white or lilac, deep lilac corolla, with a yellow spot in the throat and dark purple-indigo striations extending onto the lobes.  Found on rocky places at Cradle Mountain and in the west of the state.  There are many sub species of this species making for interesting identification of them.

[Maggi Young]

Euphrasia gibbsiae subsp. discolor habitat




part of Crater  Lake again
 9a part of crater lake again ..jpg (155.95 kB. 800x599 - viewed 114 times.)

Continuing on from our recent little holiday to Tasmania, this is the famous Kitchen Hut on the Overland Track at the base of Cradle Mountain, an historic old emergency shelter.   






Little Horn in front of Cradle Mountain on the most mountainous island in the world, Tasmania.

[Maggi Young]

Cradle Mountain in all its cloudy glory!  Somewhere up there is the summit.


On the ascent of Cradle Mountain looking towards Fury Gorge.  Another of the countless vistas and views in the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park.

[Maggi Young]

Xerochrysum milliganii syn. Helichrysum milliganii
Snow Everlasting, Milligans everlasting.
A Herb growing to 10 x 5cm when in flower,has overlapping crowded leaves in a rosette. Papery terminal flowers on strong stems with dark pink outer bracts, white inner bracts and a small yellow disc floret, flowering in summer.  A Tasmanian endemic found on the Western and central mountains in coniferous heath, bolster heath, heath, alpine sedgeland, fjaeldmark and short grasslands.  A little beauty which wasn’t quite in flower!

[Maggi Young]

Senecio pectinatus var pectinatus
Yellow alpine groundsel
A stoloniferous herb with basal rosettes, leaves are crowded, oak shaped with rounded crinkly lobes to 3cm.  Flowers are solitary bright yellow on stems to 20cm, flowers during summer.  Widespread across the Tasmanian alpine areas. Also in Victoria and NSW.

[Maggi Young]

another  Senecio pectinatus var pectinatus

[Maggi Young]

"Cradle Mountain, cloudy, misty and plenty of big boulders to scramble over, we didn’t get to the top, a bit foggy and, as the younger generation would say, ‘a bit sketchy’   "

[Maggi Young]

Astelia alpina var. alpina
Pineapple Grass
A mat forming plant with all parts covered with silver scales, more noticeable at the base of leaves and stems.  Leaves are 6-40cm long and up to 2.8cm wide, green-grey green above, grey-silver or brown below.  Flower heads normally hidden amongst the leaves, creamy white in colour during spring, red berries more noticeable later on.  A Tasmanian endemic found in all vegetation types apart from aquatic and short alpine herb fields.  Found on nearly all mountains in Tasmania.

[Maggi Young]

more Astelia alpina var. alpina

[Maggi Young]

Bellendena montana
Mountain Rocket
A small rounded shrub .5-1m high x 1-2m wide, usually only to 60cm high at high altitudes.  Variable leaves, often obovate to cuneate with 3 lobes at the apex, 1-4cm long, green in colour, leathery and alternate in arrangement, stems are reddish in colour.  White to pink flowers in a terminal cluster held above the plant during summer.  Fruit is flattened and hanging in papery sacs, colour ranging from reds, yellow to orange.  A Tasmanian endemic widespread above 600m altitude. An interesting member of the Proteaceae family.

[Maggi Young]

Bellendena montana


The rugged beauty of Tasmania’s wilderness. From the ascent of Cradle Mountain.

[Maggi Young]

Planocarpa petiolaris
Alpine Cheeseberry
A small woody shrub , 15-30cm high by 30-50cm wide.  Leaves are crowded, 7mm in length rounded and taper to a point, and white underneath.  Flowers are tubular with 5 petals and hairy lobes and flowering during spring-summer.  Fruit is a dark red/black drupe.  A Tasmanian endemic found above 1200 m altitude on dolerite mountains of the central plateau and south east.  Quite a beautiful little plant.

[Maggi Young]

Planocarpa petiolaris


 Dolerite in all its glory on Cradle Mountain.

[Maggi Young]

Gentianella diemensis subsp. diemensis
Tasmanian snow gentian
Not quite in flower but always beautiful to see.
A rosette herb with leaves spatula shaped to lanceolate 20-30mm by 5-10mm.  Flowering stems can be unbranched or sparsely branched.  Flowers are white and sometimes with violet-grey veining on the inside.  A Tasmanian endemic which is widespread and occurs in all the mountain regions of the state.     G. diemensis ssp. diemensis, picture taken on the side of Cradle Mountain. Plants die after flowering so definitely don’t hold onto fruit.

[Maggi Young]

 Pimelea sericea
Alpine rice flower
A shrub to 70cm tall with leaves that are green above and hairy below arranged in a opposite formation.  Flower heads at end of branches ranging in colour from pink to white.  A Tasmanian endemic found in alpine heath and coniferous heath in the eastern and central mountains. Photos 4,5,6 show its habitat.