Hidden in Plain Sight

It was there all along, waiting for my eyes and brain to learn how to see it.

Back when the yard contained only grass, weeds and some trees - or so I thought - a line of introduced species led from the Acacia fimbriata to the boundary with the bush. Something tall with strappy leaves that waved in the breeze. Some sort of palm. Third in line, a small shrub with pink flowers - some sort of Azalea I think.

None of them looked terrible, although Azaleas from the neighbours’ yard have invaded the bushland boundary. No place for them in the native garden though, so a few blows with the mattock and they were gone. Except - what’s that under weed number three?

Masked by tangled branches and tall grass, yet there for all to see. Look again at the pink flowers in the image above, then down to the base of the plant and a little to the left. That clump of bright green.

The crinkle bush, Lomatia silaifolia, is a small shrub native to eastern Australia. The silaifolia part means “parsley-like leaves” although to me, they more resemble the leaves of broad-leaved drumsticks (Isopogon anemonifolius) and some Grevillea cultivars. Which is not surprising as Lomatia belongs to the Proteaceae family, as do those species.

It’s an attractive shrub, one of only three endemic species (excluding trees) in the yard, long-lived and potentially (though not thus far for this plant) bearing tall white inflorescences in summer.

As is often the case once I’d seen it, I started seeing it everywhere. It grows in the bushland beyond the yard and along many of my favourite local trails. Normally compact, it occasionally surprises by approaching my height.

Time spent living in and moving through bushland teaches the eyes to see. The sea of green resolves into myriad individual species, like familiar friends. Native flora take on a distinct “nativeness”; likewise introduced species, even if not immediately identifiable look garish, vulgar, out of place.

Perhaps this is part of what some people term “biophilia” (if that isn’t an unnecessary word for what should be the default human condition). Well, I’m grateful that my eyes can see our native bushland flora.