This 470 hectare reserve 8km from Piesseville on the Piesseville Jaloran Road is wonderfully diverse bush on a high ridge between the Arthur and Buchanan rivers. It stands as a lone remnant of an ancient gently sloping upland lateritic upland, which is shown in green and black colours on the radiometics image. Waterways leading away from it in all directions have eroded the surrounding landscape away, often down to more fertile soils formed from the underlying granite and dolerite bedrock.

There are no trails in the reserve apart from a short dead end road and a boundary track,which is suitable for 4 wheel drive vehicles. I can drive my 2 wheel drive ute on the boundary south of the main road, and for much of the northern side but am stopped by a steep breakaway on the western side and deep white sand on the east. It is a long walk to Wagin or Narrogin if you get stuck
It is a wonderfully diverse reserve, which reflects the immense age of our lateritic landscape where different plants have adapted to changes in soil type that may not be noticeable at the surface.These adaptations are so specific that I can predict the soil type as I walk through the bush. There is no sudden flush of wildflowers. One sees a scattering of different species, which change from place to place and month to month from July to November.  A  moderately fit person can experience these changes by walking along the boundary track.
To fully appreciate the landscape I walked through the reserve about every 3 weeks using Google Maps as a guide.
The underlying geology is  reflected in landscapes and native vegetation in the reserve. There are several mafic stony/loamy laterite areas, which have eroded into steep breakaways and valleys covered in Brown, Blue, and Silver Mallet, dense mallee thickets, and Red Morrel trees. These starky beautiful areas with almost no understorey plants are particularly common on the west side of the reserve and the northern side of the road.
The following image shows them dominating the ridge which runs in an arc on the north side of the Jaloran Piesseville Road. They correspond with brown shaded bush areas.

A small stony mesa in the southeast corner has a grove of  Labichea lanceolata, which I have only seen before in Tutanning Nature Reserve and interesting lichen covered niches amongst the ironstone.

The northeastern edge is a good spot to see vegetation changes where a breakaway has cut into the lateritic upland. You can drive around the edge with a robust vehicle. The following landscape image shows a typical bowl-shaped lateritic breakaway, which has cut back into a sandy and stony gravel upland. 

Picture1 on the landscape image shows the edge of a breakaway, which has formed from erosion of a sandy gravel plain to the right of the image to form a kwongan gravel slope that changes in plant species as the soil becomes sandier downslope. In the background one can see a mallet thicket where the breakaway has entered a mafic ironstone/ loamy gravel area.

Pictures 2 and 3 show vegetation on the gravelly upland area.

The slope on the top most edge of the breakaway has a grove of mallees on sand over clay soil.

The breakaway bowl valley has cut into the mafic bedrock to form red brown loams and loamy gravels that support Brown, Blue and Silver Mallet, Red Morrel, mallee woodland with little shub cover apart from patches of Melaleuca broombush.

The breakaway bowl ends mid slope and a narrow Wandoo covered waterway passes in a narrow channel down a gravelly slope, and then widens to an attractive mixed vegetation spot adjoining the road. 

This area is a good Spring wildflower spot.

The western side of the reserve consists of a north-south lateritic ridge, which has been eroded on its western edge by Newman Brook to expose the underlying bedrock. A track from the road leading north on the western edge  is a bit rough but is accessable for most vehicles up to the edge of a steep breakaway. A side track near the entrance leads to a parking spot in pleasant woodland. After  passing this turnoff the track passes through sandy, loamy and rocky soils formed from granites and dolerite with attractive orchids and other spring wildflowers - particularly where the track enters Jam-Rock Sheoak bush and turns left.
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I drive to one of my favourite spots by continuing uphill and parking in the corner where the track turns left again. A walk east into the reserve reveals an ancient lateritic landscape, which is shown on the following oblique image.This is a wonderful remnant of a subdued landscape of a North-South  gravelly ridge merging into a sandy gravel and sand side slope, an ancient shallow waterway to the west, then another ironstone ridge.  Distinct vegetation types, which can be seen on the map resemble a  native garden as one walks through the bush.

The steep breakaway is part of a stony gravel rise with open Wandoo, Brown Mallet, Silver Mallet, mallee woodland, which is beautiful to walk through on a misty July morning.

After weaving through the prickly scrub, you come to a faint hollow of an old waterway bounded to the east by a gentle prickly gravel slope at the base of a stony gravel ridge. The waterway meanders downhill before merging into Wandoo-Rock Sheoak sandy patch, which has Cowslip and Green Spider orchids in September

To the east the sandy woodland opens up into a gentle kwongan sandplain slope containing a range of shrub and herb species and the occasional Rock Sheoak, Nuytsia florabunda and Banksia attenuata trees. To the south the sandplain ends abruptly at a breakaway down to woodland below.

Going upslope to the north a circular Eucalyptus adesmophloia patch stands out from the sandplain vegetation which changes to prickly Dryandra kwongan gravel.

A north-south ridge upslope to the east from the mallee thicket is the oldest land surface of gravel with circular patches of Silver Mallet.

I was stunned to find a large mallet, which had toppled over recently to reveal a root system that grew almost entirely in 40cm of soil over a dense ironstone pavement. See more information on this amazing plant in this Foxypress.

The reserve on the south side of the Piesseville Jaloran Road consists of a patchwork of lower slope, and sudued upland lateritic soils. Much of it is easy to walk through and attractive woodland or kwongan, which is good birdwatching and mixed wildflower country. The reserve has not been burnt for many decades, and has retained rare sights like coral lichen growing below local sedges on sandplain. 

Summary

• A wonderfully diverse reserve in good condition with a mix of landscapes and vegetation.
  
• Good birdwatching.
  
• Difficult to access, no trails, no facilities. 

This 288 hectare DBCA reserve adjoins the railway line 21km east of Narrogin.The reserve is generally in excellent condition but has sensitive areas that could be destroyed by uncontrolled public access. Luckily this is unlikely because there is no road access without driving next to a railway line, and internal  tracks are only suitable for 4WD vehicles.

The reserve is a north-south ridge with a central east-southeast trending high point ridge and adjoining mafic dyke, which extends east to kwongan bush on the north side of Yilliminning Rock. The whole reserve is underlain by igneous bedrock with roughly east-west mostly granite bands with varying silica levels that have formed mostly sandy and loamy soils. Remnants of an ancient lateritic layer on central and southern uplands contain an interesting kwongan and woodland mosaic of sandy, gravelly, and ironstone soils.

Boundain is a wonderfully diverse reserve with a range of vegetation types that changes abruptly as one moves from one soil type to another.Because it is so changeable there is few mass flower displays, but there is a large number of flowering plants that vary as one walks through and change throughout the flowering season.
​It is great bushwalking country but has no trails apart from a rough central road, and perimeter track. I visited the reserve several times from July to November and was delighted each time. Landscape types are described below.

Zone 1 consists of granite outcrops and associated soils, which vary in sand content.  Overall there is little wildflower diversity, but I saw Cowslip,  Greenhood, Green Spider, Sugar, Donkey, and Little Pink Candy orchids.

​The northern edge of section1a is a low sandy ridge consisting of overgrown Rock Sheoaks with little understorey and open Wandoo woodland. 

​This merges into a mallee rise then a band of granite outcrops.
This then merges into a lower east-west line of reddish loamy soil, which also forms a steep breakaway marking a change to a lateritic upland pleateau (Zone 2)

Section1b is a large bare granite outcrop, which extends up the hill. This is an extraordinarily attractive and diverse spot., which has a range of ephemeral wildflowers, lichens and orchids, and interesting rock patterns.
The lichens and wetland plants are very delicate.
​Please be very careful when walking here and keep away when plants and lichens have dried up. 

Section1C is an east west line of high granite outcrops, which is bounded by the central access track on the north and lateritic soils of zone 3 on the south sides. Vegetation mostly consists of Rock Sheoak woodland.  Keep an eye out for signs with words of wisdom from the mysterious Boundain Philosopher.

A small stony laterite mesa bounded by a waterway with a narrow band of attractive Wandoo woodland crosses the track about half way up the slope of the track. By parking here and walking south one can see the dramatic change from granite country to species-rich lateritic kwongan of Zone 3 (No trail).

Zone 2 is an ancient lateritic mesa covered with prickly kwongan vegetation interspersed  with isolated mallees. The northern edge plunges down steep mafic breakaway containing Brown Mallet, Red Morrel and Wandoos. The western side is a Melaleuca Tea-tree and Wandoo woodland slope that merges into the granite outcrop below. This area has many wildflower species that range in flowering time from June to November..

​On the southern side is a less distinct breakaway covered with kwongan scrub that ends in a sandy Rock Sheoak hollow. Good spot for Green Spider Orchids in September.

Zone 3 is a wonderful example of a variable  lateritic landscape, that covered all of the uplands in this area for millions of years, before it was eroded away as a result of geological uplift. The oldest spots are silver mallet mafic stony plateau remnants, separated by gentle upland kwongan gravel hollows.A change of slope on the west was an ancient low breakaway that separates this upland from a sandy kwongan- mallee - wandoo slope. Another steep Brown Mallet breakaway on the southern side leads to a a varied lansdcape with some granite, a mafic loam valley, and a sandy rise. Very scenic country with many eucalypt species.

Section 3a at the top of the slope consists of Silver Mallet ironstone islands with a few areas of mallee and Red Morrel, which are separated by Dryandra prickly kwongan. Very scenic but not many wildflowers 

Section 3b is the southern edge of section 3a. If you walk in from the southern boundary you will pass through a patchwork of shallow granite woodland, a Brown Mallet breakaway with a Red Morrel valley, mallee woodland, tea tree thicket, prickly kwongan and sandy kwongan upland. 

Section 3c is a lateritic sandy gravel slope below the upland. Vegetation ranges from a species-rich sandy kwongan scrub merging downslope into wandoo woodland then the granitic Rock Sheoak sandy soils with poison plants and spring everlastings.
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There is a marked change of vegetation on the northern side  where section 3c kwongan meets section 2b granitic rock sheoak woodland.

In this area these beautiful wildflowers are shrubs that usually occur on sandy and gravelly soils and tend to flower in late Spring. Most have tubular flowers, and often have hairy/woolly vegetation and / or aromatic foliage.
The following clues indicate that flowers are superbly adapted for bee and fly pollination.

• Generally white, mauve, pink colours which suit their vision, often with darker spots to provide contrast
• Petals form a corolla tube  lined with stamens  that rub pollen on to an insect as it enters to get nectar
• The tube ends in two or 5 irregular lobes, and provide insects with landing pads and attracts their attention.
• Many flowers have tiny hooks or lobes on anthers that push pollen onto the insect.

For laymen like me identification can be a nightmare as there has been considerabe change and amalgamation over the years. In old books they have been divided over the decades into groups such as Labiatae, Laminaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Verbenaceae, and Chloanthaceae.
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I use the following rules of thumb to help me identify genera in this area

Prior LAMIACEAE (FOXGLOVE) FAMILY

Genus Microcorys - white and pale pink, tube shaped flowers with a helmet shaped upper corolla lobe, three crinkled lower lobes, and a five lobed calyx. Two fertile stamens and two infertile ones (staminodes)

Genus Hemigenia - white pink and purple tube shaped flowers with a helmet shaped upper corolla lobe, three lower lobes, and a two lobed calyx.Four fertile stamens. Leaves have rounded or blunt ends.

​Genus Hemiandra - white and pink classic mint shaped flowers with a two lobed calyx, a narrow corolla tube with two upper lobes and three lower lobes, and four fertile stamens. Hemiandras have distinctive sharp pointed leaves without petioles and opposite placement on the stem. Hemiandra pungens (Snakebush) is most common locally.

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​Genus Westringia - white, classic mint-shaped flowers with a five lobed calyx, a narrow corolla tube with two upper lobes and three lower lobes, and two fertile stamens. I usually see Westringia rigida in open woodland.

​Prior VERBENACEAE / CHLOANTHACEAE (MINT) FAMILY

Members of this family are most common in drier areas, and have drought tolerant dense woolly vegetation. There are only one or two species in each genus in this area, which vary greatly. They all occur on gravelly kwongan heath.

Dasymalla terminalus is a tallish shrub adjoining the Harrismith airstrip, which has spectacular white flowers in October.

Chloanthes coccinea is notable for its bright red flowers and sessile glandular leaves. The colour anthers and stigma extending from the corolla tube suggests that this species is also pollinated by birds

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​Cyanostegia Lanceolata is a tallish shrub that is very different to other Lamiaceae genera, and can be mistaken as a member of the Malvaceae family. Bright yellow stamens and the pistil are highlighted as they project out from the black corolla tube to attract buzz pollinating native bees. After pollination the corolla tube sheds leaving the calyx, which expands and glows in the sun.

I often see fallen trees as I travel around the wheatbelt. I think that trees are falling much faster than others are growing to develop critical nesting and refuges for our native birds and animals. Wind blowing from cleared land is stronger than uncleared forests, and trees endure more stress events now due to increased heat and reduced rainfall.

I recently discovered a large Silver Mallet Eucalyptus falcata, which had blown over to reveal its amazing root system. In this district Silver Mallets occur on our oldest land surfaces-shallow ironstone remnants of ancient upland mesas. I usually find them in reserves on the highest points of lateritic upland boundaries surrounding river catchments. 

​The fallen 20 metre high beauty had been supported by a six metre diameter plate of dense roots and very long feeder roots that snaked out from the central plate. All of this was in about 40 centimetres of gravelly loamy sand soil over a dense ironstone pavement

A closer look at the underside of the root disk revealed that it was mainly a dense mat of shallow feeder root. Round spots in the mat were thin sinker roots, which had managed to penetrate cracks in the ironstone layer

Most trees and shrubs have a dimorphic root system, which has a taproot, which grows straight down to the water table, from which it obtains water for the plant; and a system of lateral roots, which obtain nutrients from superficial soil layers near the surface.The image of a dried root of a young tree that was probably killed by fire displays these features.
Proteaceae plants such as banksias and hakeas have dimorphic root systems, but they rarely occur in adult eucalypts.

After studying root systems of fallen eucalypts I discovered that most have minor tap roots, usually several small sinker roots below a ring of feeder roots. This makes sense because our ancient soils often have shallow topsoils over hostile subsoils.
There are a couple of great examples on the Breakaway Walk in Foxes Lair, which have fallen over but remained alive with side branches taking over the function of the main stem.

The mallee region of wheatbelt WA is characterised by a subdued landscape of mallee woodland on hard setting duplex soils. Recent research has shown that many eucalypts have root systems that create a layer of dense clay subsoil to exclude other plants. Young mallees initially have a tap root like other eucalypts that develops into a  woody lignotuber ('mallee root'). Lateral roots generate a hard clay barrier layer and sinker roots extending down through it water holding clay below. Over hundreds of years the taproot/lignotuber rots to allow water to rapidly flow into the soil and a lateral sinker root network, which pumps soil water up and down the soil profile. After rain these roots move water below the clay barrier to deny competing plants and store it. In summer the network pumps water back up for the mallee's use. Amazing!

For an interesting description of tree root systems, read this web page.
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Shallow root systems are certainly not limited to Australia. As with Australian trees, tap roots are inhibited by hostile subsoils, some for other reasons such as pines on permafrost. 

Lechenaultia formosa, Red Leschenaultia is one of my favourite wildflowers. Partly because the patch I irrigate and till in Foxes Lair rewards me with exquisite flowers that remind me of mini red Manta Ray heads (yep I am a dreamer!)
​The 'tongue' is an indusium - a cup at the top of the style and surrounding the stigma that collects pollen from the anthers  while still in the bud. It is another example of secondary pollen presentation, which is used by many Australian plant species to ensure precise pollen placement, and is a feature of the Goodeniaceae genus.
In the images below I have cut petals away to show the process involved in loading and presenting the pollen as a flower develops.
Stamens are joined in an anther ring (connate) halfway up the unopened bud. The cupped indusium grows up to the anthers and collects pollen before growing through them to the mouth of the flower. 

​As the flower opens the indusium bends to present a package of pollen to insects that presumably crawl in to find nectar.
After the pollen has been removed or dies, a white growth of stigma cells emerges on the side of the indusium to harvest pollen from visiting insects. Voila, pollen delivered and collected from a precise spot on the target insect's body!

Indusium shapes vary and could remind one of the human eating plants in 'The Day of the Triffids' novel. The one on the common Lechenaultia biloba, Blue Leschenaultia is a ripper. Last year I found dainty little Lechenaultia tubiflora in deep white sand at Ockley Nature Reserve.

Here are more Goodeniace examples.

Goodenia caerula appears to be an exception because an insect has to push through closed petals to find the indusium. I suspect that this could be a moisture saving aid because this species flowers on gravel soils in November.

On the other hand all Dampieras also have hidden indusia, but in a small fold in two petals and called an auricle.

Genus Anthotium also hides the indusium in an auricle. Dainty priority 3 threatened species Anthotium odontophyllum, Durells Anthotium flowers on clay soils at the Claypit in November.