Surreal flowers of Australia

Australia is home to the many of the world's most surreal plants. Here are some examples that are in flower now on the south coast of New South Wales.

Grevilleas
at Booderee Botanic Gardens (formerly known as Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens) Jervis Bay

Fringed Lily (Thysanotus tuberosus)

A favourite of mine, this minute flower is widely distributed, yet as Warren and Gloria Sheather say in their superb site, A View from Yallaroo, " The plants are invisible . . . until they flower. " Even then, they are invisible to those who travel faster than a walk. The flowers are so tiny, they'd be useless as a corsage – and anyway, they die as soon as they're picked, so in season, they can always be found in their most beautiful settings.