I thought I was looking at gum tree leaves, but in fact it is a wattle — Acacia implexa.
No flowers or seed pods to give me a clue, but what’s in a name with such beautiful leaves?
![](https://sharynmunro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wat-2.jpg)
This decorative and dangly foliage also belongs to a wattle — Acacia vestita.
![](https://sharynmunro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wat-3.jpg)
The weird and wonderful triangular leaves on this wattle caught my eye: Acacia cultriformis. New to me.
![](https://sharynmunro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wat-4.jpg)
Not a wattle, but a standout in its solitude as it erupted amongst crackly lichen, is this small shrub of Western Urn Heath, Melichinus erubescens.
![](https://sharynmunro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wat-5.jpg)
On the ridge top, somehow growing tall and strong amongst rocks, this tree trunk, strikingly silver and grey, presented a single elephantine foot and proud wrinkles as it branched. I am told by my knowledgeable hosts that it is a Scribbly Gum, Eucalyptus rossi.
![](https://sharynmunro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wat-6-893x1024.jpg)
And if a tree does not choose to have a grey or brown trunk, it can opt for green, with a little help from friendly lichen.
![](https://sharynmunro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wat-7-892x1024.jpg)
For here the realm of green above all belongs to the mosses and lichens, especially after a good rainy period.
They make a fabulous contrast with the bones of this country — the rocks.