We had settled weather at the end of October and I took advantage of the lighter evenings to check out the road-side banks on the way home. The dandelions are shooting forth and I won't have time this year to spend hours weeding them out. Nice to see the orchids appearing and every now and then a surprise is lurking for those who look closely.
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| What's that between the dandelions? |
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| Ahh, yellow fungi with a concave top and frilly white bottom |
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It's a gilled fungi but I haven't been able to identify
it yet - Autumn is a more common time |
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| Top view showing the deep concave cap |
Another object with a distinctive shape is a dragon fruit,
Hylocereus undatus, a species of cacti. Our 4 Square supermarket often has some of the more exotic fruits and vegetables and the dragon fruit had novelty appeal despite their cost. After being asked several times what they tasted like, I decided that the only way to know was to try it out.
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| Half a dragon fruit - the outside |
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| The edible bit! |
It's not easy describing the subtle taste but it is refreshing with a texture similar to watermelon. I do know that I find gold kiwifruit more appealing though and I could get a kilogram for the same money. Perhaps dragon fruit have a lot more taste in Asia and the Americas.
The weather had a wintry turn on 29 October; I was out checking my traps when a 10 minute hailstorm turned the track to white. No wonder the fungi are confused!
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| Greenhood orchids |
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| Spider orchid chilling out |
Puawhananga, the native clematis (
Clematis paniculata), continues to flower and now the bush lawyer is laden with clumps of sweet-smelling blossom.
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| Close-up of bush lawyer flower - perfection! |
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| The huge blossoms of the native bush lawyer |
