Painted Featherflower - Verticordia picta
Verticordia species, commonly known as feather flowers are another highly colourful member of the Myrtaceae family along with Callistemon, Calothamnus, Calytrix, Chamaelaucium, Darwinia, Eucalyptus, Kunzea, Leptospermum, Melaleuca and many others. Verticordias are very common in Western Australia and during the warmer months are virtually everywhere and not in small numbers either, often providing great splashes of color across the landscape.
Feather flowers like the company of other Verticordias and can usually be found growing with one or more species. In the case of Verticordia picta above, they were growing with two others, the yellow Verticordia chrysantha (trying to get into a couple pictures), and a coffee table sized white one (V. roei). These were growing in a gravel soil that sometimes has a sandy overlay.
The Painted Featherflower is to be found to the NW of Esperance and can be recognised by the bright pink flowers, clean undivided petals and the dome shaped growth, although there are many other distinguishing features that are difficult to portray via photographs alone. These plants can grow to 11/2 metres, although very few Verticordias of any species reach more than a metre in the Esperance district.
Flowering is recorded from July to November, but in the more southerly Esperance region, from September to December would be more usual.
