Now that I have a wee camera, I took myself on a Sunday walk. No excuse any longer to call this the “pink ball blossom thing”. It was easy to google and find it is a native plant of southern Western Australia (but not actually in the Capes area). Hakea Laurina (commonly called Pin Cushion Hakea) is mostly found in a wide area from Albany to Esperance. So although Georgiana would have delighted in it, in fact, she would never have seen this Hakea.
Name meaning: Hakea laurina
Hakea – after Baron von Hake, 20th century botanist;
laurina – laurel-like, of the leaves
My better camera does not let me get close to objects (grrr) and so I picked up a second-hand one for $50. It will let me get 1cm from a plant and at 12 mp it is a decent resolution. Very handy to keep in a track suit pocket. (Canon Power Shot SX200 IS).
This project is doing me a great deal of good already!
P.S. Without a lot of winter flowers about, the bees were loving the heavy blossom.