Whilst traversing the vast wheatfields north-west of Esperance in Western Australia in transit between locations, we happened across this striking mallee growing on a roadside.
On left, a flower; on right, a flower bud. The bud is about 5 cm long.
This rare species, largely confined to road verges among wheatfields, is notable among eucalypts for a number of reasons:
* the great size of the buds and flowers;
* its extraordinary beak. This is a bud cap, which serves to protect the flower parts until they're ready to open; and
* the showiest part of the flower (which probably serves to attract pollinators) is the hypanthium (the red bit) - in most eucalypts it is the stamens (here yellow).