In February 2009 an arson fire swept through the western part of Foxes Lair and killed a stately centuries old Marri tree. This tree was on of several photomonitoring points I established to monitor recovery after the fire. The dead branches sagged a bit in following 15 years but the tree stayed largely intact.

Yesterday I discovered it after it had blown over during one of the strong southerly winds that we have been having this summer. What a magnificent tree, and what a loss to the birds and animals that rely on it for habitat.

One would think that a stag like this would last for decades before it rotted enough to blow over, but the upturned roots reveal a familiar story of a tree with multiple large side roots and an insignificant tap root. The soil  here is also shallow ironstone.
I have witnessed a large increase in dead and living trees toppling over in our bush in recent years.

This marri has witnessed several changes. In the early 1920's it amongst a small settlement for workers who excavated the Bottle Creek Dam, and much later a small road workers camp with a small fireplace still in place and then a part of the Banksia Walk Trail. The only surviving Banksia grandis plants adjoin it.

This summer there are many more Red-tailed black cockatoos and Carnabys cockatoos feeding in the Narrogin townsite. Whie being a lovely sight for Narrogin locals I fear that these are birds that have lost their habitats due to widespread bushfires and that their population will fall further.

Many  plants flower in our bush at a similar time, so how do plants of an individual species manage to pollinate with minimal pollen wastage.
Buzz pollination is one method used by about 5% of the Western Australian flora.
​In brief, plants with flowers that lack nectar rely on specially adapted generalist bees. The bee bends over anthers and briefly vibrates like a tuning fork (sonification) causing pollen to shoot out of terminal pores or slits and lodge in bee abdominal hairs. Pollen already on the bee from other plants shakes loose to pollinate the flower. The Blue banded bee  shown here repeatedly bangs its head on the anthers to release the pollen.
This blog gives a great description of the process.
Note. European Honeybees can't do this.

Buzz pollinated plants generally have these characteristics

• They lack nectar or aroma which attract other insects. I rarely see insects on these flowers because of this, because pollen release occurs in the early morning, and Blue Banded Bee (Amegilla cingulata - the main pollinator) is very fast.
• Flowers have bee-attracting colours, such as yellow, blue, and white, often with  contrasting patterns. They often have bright yellow anthers and blue or purple petals.
• Flowers are open and symmetrical with the stigma and stamens sticking out together.

Tomatoes (Solanum family) have the classical flower shape of anthers clumped in a cone around the style on short filaments and held above radial petals.
A local species is Solanum symonii, a fire ephemeral, which is uncommonly seen on red clay soils after fire. A similar flower form is seen in Halgania anagalloides (Boraginaceae family), Thomasia, Guichenotia,  Lasiopetalum (Malvaceae family), and Cyanostegia lanceolata (Lamiaceae family)

Tetratheca flowers also have the typical anthers although it isn't obvious because these stunningly beautiful flowers droop.

All Hibbertia species lack nectar and are buzz pollinated, but stamens and pistil stick straight out at visiting bees. Despite being amost blindingly bright yellow to humans, insects don't see differences in colour intensity , and I rarely see any insects on them.
​The uncommon Labichea lanceolata the only local buzz pollinated Fabaciae flower has clear nectar guide patterns, which I suspect are deceptive.

Chamaescilla (Blue Squill, Curly Squill), and Tricoryne species have nectar to attract bees and coat them with  pollen the 'normal' way from side opening anthers.  However they have no aroma to distinguish them​ from buzz pollinated neighbours.

Patersonia and Orthrosanthus lilies lack nectar, and aroma but are not buzz pollinated -  their anthers open inwards through slits and flowers only stay open for about half a day. I don't understand why this has evolved  as it doesn't appear to be a successful strategy: Perhaps hoverflies visit to eat their pollen As it turns out Orthrosanthus laxus is self pollinated!

​I can't understand the reason for these functional variations in similar looking flowers. Why would a bee visit a specific species? I wonder if they all rely on buzz pollinating generalist bees that take both nectar and pollen, and whether the different techniques deposit pollen on different parts of the same bee?
any ideas?

Red flowers in our wheatbelt come in a range of shapes and sizes, but they are nearly all pollinated by birds. Some red flowers also pollinated by marsupials such as the honey possum, but this fascinating article describes how the colour red looks more vivid to birds than to mammals and marsupials.
Worldwide indicators of a bird-pollinated plant are
• Bright red, white, (which most insects can’t see well) or yellow flowers.
•Tube-shaped flowers with abundant nectar at the base, and adjoining stamens and pistil projecting about 3 to 5cm out from the nectar source.
• Sturdy flowers that can support birds 
• Little or no aroma, but lots of dilute nectar

​Here are local examples of tube shaped flowers from a range of genera.

Most bird-pollinated flowers are large, but there are exceptions like these red astrolomas (now Styphelia species) that provide nectar to very small honeyeaters like the Brown Honeyeater, and the Western Spinebill. Note the hairy flower entrance, which is designed to discourage nectar-stealing insects like ants. White-flowered members are often pollinated by insects like butterflies and moths that have with long feeding tubes. 

Bird pollination is particularly important in this area because there are so many flowering species, and which are often in specific locations or soil types. For example Eucalyptus caesia mallees occurs on separate granite outcrops. Birds suit these plants because they can carry pollen further, particularly after large bushfires.

Millions of years of relative stability have allowed the evolution from bee to bird-pollinated flowers. The process has led to variations from the applying to bird pollination in other parts of the world.
Bird-pollinated flowers here can have a range of shapes, be scented, and be located close to the ground. Genera such as Eucalyptus, Banksia, Hakea, and Grevillea may be pollinated by more than one animal as well as insects. 


Grevillea and Hakea flowers have superbly adapted long and curling styles, which deliver and accept pollen (using secondary plant pollination) on specific points of a honeyeater's head or beak. Some are highly scented which suggests alternative pollinators. A good example is beetle-pollinated Grevillea eryngioides at Harrismith Nature Reserve.

Insect pollinators become more important with smaller Grevillea/Hakea flowers. Plants are often very spiny,and flowers are strongly scented. A good example is Hakea lissocarpha which has profuse groups of flowers with short straight styles and a strong almost cloying aroma. In this Foxypress I describe the variety of insects and a honeyeater I observed on a plant one July.

Bird pollination is most common in  WA in brush-shaped flowers such as bottlebrushes and Calothamnus, which coat a bird with pollen when it lands and feeds, and bowl-shaped eucalypt flowers.

Most eucalypts are pollinated by birds, but the bowl shaped base provides access to a range of pollinators.The Purple Crowned Lorikeet uses its brush-tipped tongue to gather nectar from massed bunches of eucalypt flowers. Unfortunately I infrequently see them in our bush, and hope that the introduced Rainbow Lorikeet doesn't establish here. Honeyeaters and Western Silvereye are very common.

Note. Australian plants evolved in the absence of introduced European Honeybee which have advantages that enable them to strongly compete with native insects, birds and animals.They are a communal species fostered by humans, operate continuously, and are larger than most native bees. The damn things are everywhere!
A walk through the Narrogin Arboretum reveals a range of eucalypt flower adaptations, which have evolved to favour birds. Many flowers have white or yellow stigma and stamens, but the bud caps and flower cups are often red. Several red-flowering species also have white-flowering variants..

Other adaptations are drooping flowers, crowded stamens, and ball shaped flower clusters, which favour bird access rather than insects.

Other genera have only a few bird pollinated members such as the large-flowered fire ephemeral Kennedia Prostrata, which germinates profusely after fire then dies back to a few plants after 5 years or so. Bright red blooms against black ash attract birds which can fly the distance into large burnt areas.

The small Red Leschenaultia flower doesn't look typical for bird pollination, unlike the uncommon Lechenaultia tubiflora. Most other species use insects.

Exceptions?
There are a few that may cause confusion.
Drosera menziesii Pink Rainbow can have bright red flowers, but they are mostly pink to shiny magenta colours, which are highly UV reflective colours for insects.

​Ptilotus mangesii Pom Poms, and Ptilotus declinatus Curved Mullah Mullah. There are also magenta Pom Pom versions that are very UV reflective, and they flower late in the season often against a yellow or brown background which insects see better.