Smooth Blue-flower
Bush
Ellura
Smooth Blue-flower
Typical Bush B4 Drought
 
                      
Smooth Blue-flower (Halgania andromedifolia)Class: Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida)
Order: Mints (Lamiales)
Family: Forget-me-not (Boraginaceae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Smooth Blue-flower (Halgania andromedifolia)
This Photo:     🔍Bush Decimated 3 years after Drought🔎
Other name: Lavender Halgania & Scented Blue-flower

Thank you Ralph Foster & Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
Smallish, stiff, shiny, green leaves. Pale green / white felted underneath.
Blossoms with a blue / pale-purple flower with 5 petals.
Leaves superficially resemble Beyeria lechenaultii leaves, but Halgania leaves are much larger and are pointy.

We've highlighted the effects of the drought here. In 2019 we had 135mm, compared to an average of ~270mm. The halgania were hard hit, as were many of our plants. You can see they've managed to survive, but will take years to recover to their former glory.
The flowering across Ellura in 2022 has been staggering. Further years of good rain will see the seeds produced from these flowers germinate and cover Ellura in healthy bushes again; in decades to come.

Copyright © 2022-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 24-Sep-2022
This species is classed as LC (Least Concern) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)