All the trees are blackened but the wildflowers are spectacular, changing with the aspect and the drainage. We had come to see the Waratahs. It looks the same to the layman but it is now a separate species and not the same as Telopea speciosissima. The more numetous teeth on the edge of the leaf and other features separate it from the Sydney species. Fine specimens greeted us by the track, prime in their second year.
Some plants are over two metres tall and having five flowers on the tips of healthy stems.
A Lewins Honeyeater was around the place but did not confirm its status as a pollinator by landing on the flowers. Only a few plants have capsules hanging on from last year so perhaps this isolated species does not enjoy a high rate of pollination. The spear trees on one part of the track are the tallest I have ever seen. Healthy crowns on trunks 3 or 4 metres tall and then topped with spears from the last season another three metres tall. Each spear is bristling with capsules and in perfect condition, untouched by the borers that often eat them.