Wednesday, November 26, 2008

ABC Wednesdays - S for Sturt's Desert Pea

Sturt's Desert Pea is South Australia's floral emblem. The plant, Swainsona formosa, is a native of Austrlalia growing in most states. This photo is scanned from a slide which I took about 25 years ago in the northern Flinders Ranges.

It is named after Captain Charles Sturt who discovered it during an exploration expedition in central Australia in 1845 .

Sturt's Desert Pea has been featured on several Australian postage stamps.

The 20 cent stamp was issued in 1968 and the 7 cent stamp in 1971. Wasn't it lucky that I collected stamps back then and was actually able to find them to scan!

To find out more about ABC Wednesdays and see other participants' contributions go to the ABC Wednesdays' Anthology or to see direct links to their own sites go here.

8 comments:

Rambling Woods said...

What an interesting looking plant..
My ABC Wednesday Post

Jane Hards Photography said...

Strange looking plant, and a good investment with those stamps. The island is always producing limited editions, you have convised me to purchase a few.

Donna said...

Something so ugly can bear the most Beautiful fruit!! Gorgeous!hughugs

antigoni said...

Excellent post! I like the parade below, too.

Rune Eide said...

I liked the colours very much. It must enliven the desert very much!

Dan said...

Amazing what can survive in as inhospitable environment as the desert. It is quite the odd looking bit of fauna yet the colors and shape are really attractive.

Liz Hinds said...

That is a weird looking plant!

Sally said...

Absolutely lovely - and one of my favourite plants. The stamps are fantastic too! Might have one or two of those 7c ones kickign around somewhere too!