Riding along the railway corridor near Oaklands railway station, I passed one striking red-flowered tree I didn’t recognise and kept pedalling, but when I saw a second, I pulled over. Here’s the tree.
The flowers were especially striking: bright red, with stamens curling back up and around the base of the fruit. The bud caps are bright red, coming to a pointed tip.
Quite a sight.
In her book Eco Colour, India Flint argues that eco-prints are a good way to test potential dye plants using minimal leaf material, and she is, of course, right. On the right, E Erythronema var Erythronema. Not much of a dye specimen. On the left, leaves from another E Scoparia, I believe.
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