City of Kwinana hosting wildflower walks and night stalk as part of Biodiversity month in September

Kwinana residents can enjoy an array of events from a wildflower walk to night stalk during biodiversity month. September celebrates biodiversity, with the City of Kwinana highlighting its stunning wildflowers and wetlands this month through a series of activities. These include a free guided walk by Boorloo Aboriginal Cultural Experiences through Sloans Reserve in Leda on September 14 and a night stalk of Belgravia Dampland hosted by local wildlife expert Joe Tonga on September 21. The Murdoch branch of the Wildflower Society will host a tour of the wildflower reserve in Sandringham Park on September 15, with a special children’s wildflower walk also on offer plus stories and crafts with a visiting native flower fairy. City of Kwinana mayor Peter Feasey said wildflowers provided an ecosystem service and food sources, with some luring and trapping their own food as a way of adapting to Perth’s sandy soils. “Greenhood orchids have a mechanism called a ‘box trap with a spring-hinged door’ which traps insects and require then to escape through a narrow passage, enabling the pollination of the orchid,” he said. “Trigger plants, like the pink fountain trigger plant, is considered to be protocarnivorous because they trap small insects. “Other plants may use a system like a flypaper trap where leaves with glands secrete adhesive glue drops for attracting and capturing prey, with captured flies dissolving to provide all the nutrients required for the growth of the plant and these nutrients are transferred to the underground root system.” Mr Feasey said plants like banksias, hakeas and grevilleas — which are found throughout Kwinana — manage in low-phosphorous soil levels because of their special proteoid roots. “Parasitic plants such as the Christmas tree, or manjar as it is known in Nyoongar, derive their nutrients from other plants,” he said. “Meanwhile wetlands like The Spectacles act like the Earth’s kidneys, naturally filtering water and reducing flood risks while supporting a wide range of plant and animal species and carbon sequestration to mitigate the effects of climate change.” More information and event details are at kwinana.wa.gov.au/biodiversitymonth.