When studying English in Australia, you will have amazing opportunities to explore staggering landscapes and breathtaking natural beauty in Australia’s unique ecosystem. Below are nine species of flowers officially recognised as national, state, and territory floral emblems, including the Golden Wattle, Australia’s national flower.
Native flowers in Australia bring ecological and cultural value. We have over 20,000 species of native flowering plants celebrated in festivals and gardens around the country. They are also shown on flags, coins, bank notes, stamps and sports jerseys. The following nine flower emblems represent the diversity and beauty of our native flowers.
Australia
The Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha)
Blooming in Spring, beginning in September in Australia, the Golden Wattle is Australia’s national flower. This floral emblem forms the background of the official coats of arms; the other parts are Australia’s bird and mammal emblems. Its flower heads are fluffy, yellow, sweetly scented. Each flower head is a bunch of many tiny flowers. The Golden Wattle are the most fragrant flowers and are used in perfume making, bath herbs, and potpourris.
Australian Capital Territory
Royal Bluebell (Wahlenbergia gloriosa)
This Royal Bluebell grows mainly in sub-alpine woodland in the Australian Capital Territory, south-eastern New South Wales and Victoria. It has vivid blue/ purple flowers and long, slender stems.
New South Wales
Waratah (Telopea speciosissima)
This flowering plant is fairly widespread on the NSW central coast and adjoining mountains of New South Wales, particularly around Sydney and the Blue Mountains. It is made up of small individual flowers, surrounded by crimson petal-like bracts.
Victoria
Pink (Common) Heath (Epacris impressa)
Common Heath is a slender, upright shrub, producing stems lined with many tubular flowers coloured from pale white to deep red. It is found in coastal heathlands and in montan and sub-alpine areas, including the Clyde River, New South Wales, the Mt Lofty Ranges in South Australia, the Grampians and the Little Desert in Victoria.
South Australia
Sturt’s Desert Pea (Swainsona formosa)
Sturt’s Desert Pea, which grows in arid woodlands and on open plains, is able to withstand the marked extremes of temperature in inland deserts. Each flower head bears six or seven bright red flowers with black bulbous centres.
Tasmania
The Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus)
This is a tall, straight tree with cream-coloured flowers. The Tasmanian Blue Gum is found in open forests in south-eastern Tasmania, on Bass Strait islands and in parts of southern Victoria.
Queensland
The Cooktown Orchid (Dendrobium bigibbum)
This orchid grows in northern Queensland, from Johnston River to Iron Ranges. Each flower is usually coloured deep to pale lilac, or rarely white.
Northern Territory
Sturt’s Desert Rose (Gossypium sturtianum)
This is not a rose, but a drought-tolerant shrub found on rocky slopes and in dry creek beds throughout Central Australia. It produces pretty mauve- and lilac-coloured flowers with red centres. This Sturt’s Desert Rose is featured on the Northern Territory’s flag with seven petals, representing the six states of Australia and Northern Territory.
Western Australia
The Red and Green Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos manglesii)
Kangaroo Paws are found nowhere else in the world but the south-west of Western Australia. The tubular flowers are borne in claw-like structures, and are covered with dense hairs. Its red and green flowers appear at the end of long stalks between August and November.
Originally published at www.scotsenglish.edu.au.
