Following on from Ronlit’s post on the Early Nancy, there are two attractive native lilies flowering right now that, although harder to find than the better known Bulbine and Chocolate Lilies, can still be discovered on some undisturbed roadsides and bush remnants. They are the Blue Grass-lily (Caesia calliantha) and Yellow Rush-lily (Tricoryne elatior).
Both lilies have grass-like foliage and are thus easily overlooked until the bright star-shaped flowers appear. An interesting feature of both is that the spent flowers are spirally twisted, as seen in some of the photos below. The root tubers of the Blue Grass-lily were an important Aboriginal food.
They both also readily attract various pollinators such as hover flies and native bees, and are therefore good candidates for the current “Wild Pollinator Count” – see the Focus on Fauna website.
