Beautiful Flower - Banksia

Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up to 30 metres tall. They are generally found in a wide variety of landscapes; sclerophyll forest, (occasionally) rainforest, shrubland, and some more arid landscapes, though not in Australia's deserts.

Heavy producers of nectar, banksias form a vital part of the food chain in the Australian bush. They are an important food source for all sorts of nectariferous animals, including birds, bats, rats, possums, stingless bees and a host of invertebrates. Furthermore, they are of economic importance to Australia's nursery and cut flower industries. However these plants are threatened by a number of processes including land clearing, frequent burning and disease, and a number of species are rare and endangered.

 

Beautiful Flower - Baileya

Baileya (the desert marigolds) is a genus of three species in the aster family Asteraceae. All are native to the southwestern United States and to Mexico.

They are typically annual, though B. multiradiata may be perennial. The leaves, which may range from being entire to deeply lobed, mostly occur in a basal cluster. From this arises several flower stems, up to 18 inches (50 cm) in height, usually carrying a single yellow radiate flower each, although B. pauciradiata may have 2-3 flowers on a stem.

Desert marigolds typically have their main bloom in the spring, extending through July. Summer thunderstorms may enable a second bloom in October and even into November.

Baileya species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Schinia miniana (which feeds exclusively on the genus) and Schinia pallicincta (which feeds exclusively on B. pauciradiata).

The genus is named after US microscopist and West Point professor Jacob Whitman Bailey (1811–1857).

Beautiful Flower - Bacopa monnieri

  

Bacopa monnieri (Waterhyssop, Brahmi, Thyme-leafed gratiola, Water hyssop) is a perennial, creeping herb whose habitat includes wetlands and muddy shores. Brahmi is also the name given to Centella asiatica, particularly in north India, although that may be a case of mistaken identification that was introduced during the 16th century.

The leaves of this plant are succulent and relatively thick. Leaves are oblanceolate and are arranged oppositely on the stem. The flowers are small and white, with four or five petals. Its ability to grow in water makes it a popular aquarium plant. It can even grow in slightly brackish conditions. Propagation is often achieved through cuttings.

 

Beautiful Flower - Babiana

Babiana Ker Gawler is a genus of flowering plants in the Family Iridaceae composed of about 80 species. Most of these species (about 49) are found in the southwestern Cape of Africa, with the remainder distributed in Namaqualand and Northern Cape Province. The native range of the genus is from southern Namibia to the Eastern Cape to southern Zimbabwe, with one species from Socotra off the coast of Somalia (although this may not be a species of Babiana). The genus name is derived from the Dutch word baviaan, referring to the African monkey that consumes the corms of plants in the genus.

Beautiful Flower - Azorina

Azorina is a plant genus within the family Campanulaceae. The sole species, Azorina vidalli, which is native to the Azores, was formerly known as Campanula vidalii.

Beautiful Flower - Argyroderma

Argyroderma is a genus consisting of over 50 species of succulents in the iceplant family from South Africa.

These distinctive plants are among those known as "living stones", because their highly succulent, usually stemless, blue-green leaves occur at ground level and can resemble small stones. They form small clumps of a few or many paired, usually cylindrical to egg-shaped leaves that are cleft in the center. Each stem bears just 2 leaves per season but may produce offsets over the years. In some species the old leaves persist and form a short column on which new leaves develop. Solitary daisy-like flowers, usually white, yellow, or purple, appear in the cleft.

Like most succulents, they prefer to be kept dry in winter and are also damaged by repeated frosts. Their preferred mode of cultivation is a bright and sunny position with gritty free-draining soil. They may be propagated from seed, or careful division of established clumps.

Beautiful Flower - Argemone (prickly poppies)

Argemone is a genus of flowering plants in the family Papaveraceae. It contains 30 to 32 species, commonly known as prickly poppies, that are native to the Americas and Hawaii. The generic name originated as αργεμωνη in Greek and was applied by Dioscorides to a poppy-like plant used to treat cataracts.

Beautiful Flower - Arctotis

Arctotis is a genus of about 40-50 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to southern Africa, from South Africa north to Angola. Some of the plants are alternatively placed in the genus Venidium. Many are called by the common name "African daisy", or "Gousblom" in Afrikaans. Some species have been developed as popular horticultural items because of their attractive yellow, orange, red, or white flowers. Gardeners cultivate some species as half-hardy annuals.