This results in dramatic flowerings in areas generally considered barren. The Kangaroo Paw and Sturt Desert Pea both flower readily after desert rains. With the unique variety of birds and insects that are available to pollinate flowering plants, many Australian plants have developed distinctive methods of attracting particular species. These include dramatically coloured flowers, unusual shapes designed to brush against birds or insects as they feed, and abundant supplies of nectar. The Kangaroo Paw, Grevillea, and Hakea are examples of this.
Fire also burns back undergrowth.
Some species seeds are adapted to germinate only in the presence of those nutrients available after a fire s burning. The presence of eucalypts can also dramatically affect the way a fire burns. The volatile oils in eucalyptus leaves rise above the vegetation in advance of a fire front, and can literally explode, ahead of man-made and natural fire breaks. The ancient soils which are characteristic of Australia are nutrient-deficient after millennia of leaching without renewal from volcanic activity. In some parts of desert Australia the lack of vegetation is an effect of poor soils rather than lack of rainfall.