Queanbeyan by-pass site revisited

Two weeks ago we went for a short walk in the outskirts of Queanbeyan.  The area is the Council preferred route for the Queanbeyan by-pass, and an alternative route which had been suggested is probably off the table following the ill-advised judgement of voters at the recent Federal election (not that I'm bitter and twisted or anything).

Feeling like another stroll this afternoon we decided to take a similar route to see what had changed.  The overall change is that the Acacias have largely finished flowering while the Fabaceae have started to hit their straps.

(On the former visit Dillwynnia sieberi, a member of the latter family, was very evident from the start of the walk but on this visit the flowering of this species was restricted to the upper end of the route.)

The main species visible on this walk were Pultenaeas.  To begin with they were mainly P. subspicata ..

 ... while P. microphylla kicked in at various spots.

 Some Leucochrysum albicans was beginning to emerge (as it is along the roadsides of Palerang Shire).

 Others specimens of this species were still in bud.

 Daviesia genistifolia had done its dash, and was showing the characteristic triangular fruits as well as the gorse-like leaves.

 In terms of Epacridae (ie heaths) Leucopogon sp, were still around but, like your author, getting a bit senescent.  Lissanthe strigosa, noted last visit as "just starting to burst", was very evident in the lower areas but had gone to the relatively boring white flowers rather than the pink buds which give it the vernacular name of peach heath.

What looked like a heath in a few areas was in fact Cryptandra amara which is a member of the family Rhamnaceae...

 .. as is this Pomaderris eriocephala which was really starting to flower in profusion.

When the ANPS WW visited the area in 2009 the Coordinator commented that "We were surprised to find one major gully and several tributaries full of Pomaderris eriocephala which will look spectacular in spring.".  Now is the time she meant and it is starting to look spectacular.  This shows the density of a thicket from inside!

 Indigofera australis was developing further, although there aren't a huge number of plants around.

 We came back mainly along the same route, to avoid annoying the pig-dogs (although they still heard us 100m away and proceeded to emulate either pork-chops or the Hounds of the Baskervilles).  This led us to an area in which the Pimelea curviflora (I think that is the species) was in various states of emergence.