Some plants of pink-bells have flowers that are pinker, while others have more of a mauve or purple tone. This can be noticed when several flowering plants can be seen.

Pink-bells is common and widespread in the Ballarat district and it has been much-admired in various bushland places in September. It seems to make a nice show every springtime. Plants sometimes spread to only 20 or 30 centimetres, but some older clumps can reach a metre or more.

Its flowers have four petals, making it easier to identify. More types of plants have flowers with five petals, so those with four are a minority. Also, its flowers hang down, rather than facing up towards the light.

This eye-catching plant, which is seldom more than 25 cm tall, can be found close to Ballarat at Invermay, Nerrina, Canadian and Mt Clear.

There is only the one sort of pink-bells in the Ballarat district, but another one occurs in the Brisbane Ranges. While similar in flower size and colour, that one is a smaller plant, with narrower leaves. 

White-flowered plants of pink-bells occur from time to time, but these are uncommon.

Nodding greenhood, common beard-heath and purple coral-pea are just a few other earlier flowers accompanying pink-bells.

Almost every yellow-tailed black cockatoo in a flock of 20 was carrying a hakea cone when they alighted in a gum tree.

Hakea seeds are a favourite food of these big cockatoos. They were no doubt very important to the birds prior to pine plantations appearing. The same goes for banksias, also much-used by black cockatoos.

The seeds of hakeas, banksias and pines are all similar, made up of a seed with a wing attached.

The woody cones of hakeas are very tough, but the cockatoos can crack them open with their powerful beaks. Some of the cockatoos in the gum tree nipped at the cones as they perched, while others simply held onto them. Most of the flock eventually flew off with the cones still in their beaks.

This illustrates how hakeas, banksias and pines may spread. Any dropped seeds would spin to the ground and potentially germinate and grow. Even large green pinecones are carried by flying cockatoos, sometimes for a kilometre or more.