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UltravioletPhotography

Xanthorrhoea australis [Austral Grass Tree]


DaveO

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Oldfield, D. 2014. Xanthorrhoea australis R. Br. (Xanthorrhoeaceae) Austral Grass Tree. Flowers photographed in visible and ultraviolet light. http://www.ultraviol...ral-grass-tree/

 

Grampians National Park, Victoria, Australia

Roses Gap Road

13 October 2014

Australian Native Wildflower

 

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Xanthorrhoea australis occurs from south-eastern New South Wales to north-eastern South Australia commonly in sandy soils or rocky areas. It is extremely slow growing and mature specimens with trunks 2-5 m tall can be hundreds of years old. The skirts of dead leaves are highly flammable although in most cases the plants are able to survive extreme bushfires. Fire usually stimulates flowering which is what happened in this case. The area was very badly burnt by wildfire in early 2014 and the plants responded with massed flowering in the following Spring.

 

 

Visible Light: Nikon D7100 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Sunlight, 1/250 s @ f/11 ISO 200, B+W UV/IR Cut Filter.

post-28-0-24357500-1413432331.jpg

Image Reference: DO70399

 

Ultraviolet Light: Nikon D7100 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Sunlight, 1.0 s @ f/11 ISO 200, Baader UV-Pass Filter.

post-28-0-53356100-1413432350.jpg

Image Reference: DO70401

 

Visible Light: Nikon D7100 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Sunlight, 1/200 s @ f/16 ISO 200, B+W UV/IR Cut Filter.

post-28-0-40888100-1413432374.jpg

Image Reference: DO70404

 

Ultraviolet Light: Nikon D7100 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Sunlight, 2.5 s @ f/11 ISO 200, Baader UV-Pass Filter.

post-28-0-66258300-1413432394.jpg

Image Reference: DO70408

 

Reference:

Elliot, W. and Jones, D.L., Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants suitable for cultivation Lothian Books, 2010, Volume 9, p. 487.

 

 

Published 16 October 2014

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In the first visible shot you can see how hot the fire was from the charcoal trunks on the background trees. They have regrown leaves all up the trunks as "epicormic growth" which is a common post fire reaction in Australian eucalypts. Once again the UV response of the flowers (as in Eucalyptus and Acacia blossom) is totally black. The flower stems appear even blacker in UV than the charcoal tree trunks behind them.

 

Dave

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