Blue and Purple. Mouth of the Mersey River, Viola banksii, Tasmanian Violet, and Tasmanian Blue Gum Tree, Eucalyptus globulus, Devonport, Tasmania, Australia
Indeed, I might well have been Blue and Purple myself this early evening as I'm writing this. I'd hiked along the Don River - which borders Devonport on the west as the Mersey does on the east - to the coast. It's something of a hike, and I decided to have a sit-down under a huge Blue Gum Tree. Attentive to bird song, I suddenly heard a cracking sound in the fierce cold wind. I jumped away and down came a big Gum Branch with a swishy thump. Extracting my little back-pack from the leaves I noticed of course the pretty white flowers (see inset above left).
A bit earlier in the woods right along the Don River, I'd come upon Viola banksii (see inset below left), relatively recently named for great Joseph Banks (1743-1820), whom I've often mentioned. It was 'rediscovered' in southern Tasmania by another intrepid botanist collector, Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (1755-1834), who was a naturalist of the famous 'La-Pérouse' retrieval expedition (1791-1794) which came to nothing. Regardless, he was able to collect and later wrote a fine description of the plants of what was then called New Holland.
After all this excitement I was rather Blue and Purple from the chilly wind and hurried into town for some hot coffee!
Blue and Purple. Mouth of the Mersey River, Viola banksii, Tasmanian Violet, and Tasmanian Blue Gum Tree, Eucalyptus globulus, Devonport, Tasmania, Australia
Indeed, I might well have been Blue and Purple myself this early evening as I'm writing this. I'd hiked along the Don River - which borders Devonport on the west as the Mersey does on the east - to the coast. It's something of a hike, and I decided to have a sit-down under a huge Blue Gum Tree. Attentive to bird song, I suddenly heard a cracking sound in the fierce cold wind. I jumped away and down came a big Gum Branch with a swishy thump. Extracting my little back-pack from the leaves I noticed of course the pretty white flowers (see inset above left).
A bit earlier in the woods right along the Don River, I'd come upon Viola banksii (see inset below left), relatively recently named for great Joseph Banks (1743-1820), whom I've often mentioned. It was 'rediscovered' in southern Tasmania by another intrepid botanist collector, Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (1755-1834), who was a naturalist of the famous 'La-Pérouse' retrieval expedition (1791-1794) which came to nothing. Regardless, he was able to collect and later wrote a fine description of the plants of what was then called New Holland.
After all this excitement I was rather Blue and Purple from the chilly wind and hurried into town for some hot coffee!