Our daily bread (graphite on paper)
Australian National Herbarium specimen. Eragrostis eriopoda, also known as Woollybutt, Naked Woollybutt, Neverfail, this grass can live for up to 20 years. It is a significant grass and food source in the outback. Despite the seeds being very small, they are easy to husk and easy to grind and are very nutritious.
Grasses have a fragile majesty (graphite on paper)
Although this grass, Rytidosperma palladium, is part of one of the planet’s largest families of flowering plants, the agricultural, economic and ecological importance of grasses is recognised by few. Grasslands comprise 20% of the world’s vegetation. Our ailing environment demands we recognise and value their fragile majesty which is often ignored and trampled underfoot.
Crowded House (graphite on paper)
(Lichens – various)
It is estimated that 6% of Earth's land surface is covered by lichen. Lichens occur in some of the most extreme environments on Earth— arctic tundra, hot deserts, rocky coasts, and toxic slag heaps. However, they are also abundant as epiphytes on leaves and branches in rain forests and temperate woodland, on bare rock, including walls and gravestones, and on exposed soil surfaces. The roofs of many buildings have lichens growing on them. Lichens are widespread and may be long-lived; however, many are also vulnerable to environmental disturbance, and may be useful to scientists in assessing the effects of air pollution, ozone depletion, and metal contamination.
Arabesque (graphite on paper)
The bunya, bonye, bunyi or bunya-bunya in various Aboriginal languages was colloquially named the Bunya Pine by Europeans. However, Araucaria bidwillii is not a pine tree (of the genus Pinus). It belongs to the same genus as the monkey puzzle tree and is commonly referred to as the "false monkey puzzle".
In recognition of the Australia's Fire and Rescue Services the National Arboretum (Canberra has planted the Bunya pine tree for its fire protection characteristics and to symbolise the courage and dedication shown by current and past fire fighters. Bushfires swept through the ACT, including the current Arboretum site in 2001 and 2003. The Arboretum has risen from the ashes of those fires.
This particular branch came from Bundanon, the home of Arthur and Yvonne Boyd on the Shoalhaven River.
Skeleton of the Sun (graphite on paper)
The domesticated sunflower, Helianthus annuus, is the most familiar species of sunflower. While the perennial sunflower species is not as popular for gardens due to their tendency to spread rapidly and become invasive, the whorled sunflowers, Helianthus verticillatus, was listed as an endangered species in the United States in 2014.
This image shows the skeleton of the sunflower, many seasons after it had flowered.
