Fig 1: Wreath flower ((Lechenaultia macrantha). (Photo credit: iStock/Samantha Haebich)
Princess Fiona: "What kind of knight are you?"
Shrek: “One of a kind.”
The challenge with writing about the ‘one of a kind’ wreath flower (Lechenaultia macrantha) is – where do you start? I can begin by talking about its interesting shape, but I guess it won’t be too surprising to hear that the wreath flower gets its name from the wreath-like arrangement! Here’s a little on how the distinctive floral arrangement happens. The main stem, emerging above a central root system, sends out prostrate branches in all directions, which bear flowers at their ends. It ends up looking as though someone has created a circle of flowers with a compass, the main stem being the anchor point!
Fig 2 The distinctive feature of L. macarantha is the arrangement of its flowers (Photo credit: iStock/SerKucher)
The peculiar shape is just one of the distinctive things about the wreath flower; its elusive nature is another. You may not find this beauty at your local garden center or at a nearby spring floral display; it is simply too wild to tolerate cultivation! Civilization is not its thing; it only blooms in the sandy, gravelly soils of Australia’s Golden Outback. In fact, it has an affinity for disturbed areas; hence, you may find it unfurling on road verges, in gravel pits or in areas that have been recently burnt. This plant is considered a ‘ruderal’ – the first one to come in and colonize a disturbed area. It capitalizes on this first-mover advantage (FMA), since woody plants wouldn’t have gained enough foothold in these areas to offer competition (and we thought we were the first ones to figure out the concept of FMA).
Fig 3: Wreath flowers growing along the road. This image was taken by Nabsor and is published under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons 1
Being greeted by the sight of dozens of ‘wreaths’ laid out on the rich red soil is a defining moment of Western Australia’ wildflower tour. The ‘wreaths’ look so much like the man-made ones that they are often mistaken for the latter. The distant home ground and elusive habits of the wreath flower have hardly deterred its admirers. During the wildflower season, a legion of flower lovers head to the remote corners of WA in coaches and caravans in search of the wreath flower.
This enigmatic flower is every wildflower chaser’s dream – drop-dead gorgeous, elusive, and rare. If the adrenaline rush from a rare wildflower chase is your thing, go for it!
Fig 4: One of a kind! (Photo credit: iStock/Samantha Haebich)
1 Thanks to Nabsor for this image of wreath flowers along the road published under license CC BY-SA 4.0