Kangaroo Paws

I found this lovely example of kangaroo paws when I led the group of Sunday readers to the University Gardens.  I decided to hold the photo over until the letter K post.

Kangaroo paws (of the family Haemodoraceae) are endemic to the south-west of Western Australia, the place where I first saw them many years ago, in all their native splendour. Mangle’s Kangaroo Paw was proclaimed the floral emblem of Western Australia in 1960.  It flowers in spring and has a red flowering stem, sometimes a metre high.  This species is protected and should not be picked in the wild. 

Kangaroo paws have become popular in domestic gardens, particularly among those gardeners who favour Australian native plants in their gardens. Around my locality I have seen smaller varieties in a garden at the front entrance to a law firm and the local council has used them in the gardens surrounding a recently completed public open space.

I like them best of all in their native setting, even though that might be on the far side of the continent.