An interesting exception to this is a southern occurrence at Enfield. There it is very restricted in its distribution. The only spot known to me covers an area of only a couple of hectares.

Common fringe-myrtle has been known at Enfield for 50 years or more, but its location has been almost lost with the passing of some of the older people who knew it. I had searched for it several times over the years, but had been unsuccessful until this spring.

Common fringe-myrtle grows just over a metre tall. Its leaves are tiny. When not flowering, it would look like another healthy shrub in the forest, but the flowers at the tips of the branches make it stand out.

As last month’s photo from Enfield shows, the flowers are both starry and fluffy in appearance. Many of the plants had pink buds and white flowers, but this one had pinker flowers than most.

Common fringe-myrtle is known to botanists as Calytrix tetragona. It is in the tea-tree and maleleuca family.

At Enfield it grows in the south-western part of the state park, south of Mt Misery. There it occurs near the top of a ridge and on a north-facing slope. 

Painted honeyeater at Linton

Great excitement was caused at Linton nearly 50 years ago when a painted honeyeater turned up.

Many bird observers at the time had never seen a painted honeyeater, and many of them made the trip from Melbourne and further to see this “new” bird.

Since then the bird has either made something of a population recovery, or it has simply become better known and thus found more often and in more places.

At Linton it is not a regular or common visitor, but it has been back several times since the 1960s. It has made a welcome return this year. The painted honeyeater visits bushland near Clunes every spring, but it is otherwise rare locally.