#dingo rock

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#3808 - Senna pleurocarpa var. angustifolia - Fire Bush

"Laxative plant with ribbed fruit and narrow leaflets" First formally described in 1859 by Ferdinand von Mueller as Cassia pleurocarpa.

AKA Chocolate Bush, from the smell of the flowers. The species is found in all arid parts of Australia, but the angustifolia variety is most widespread in WA, and is also found in temperate and semi-arid areas. Most common in red stony soils.

Wongan Hills, site of the 2024 Great South Bioblitz weekend trip I organised, certainly counts.

Dingo Rock, near Wongan Hills, Western Australia.

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#3061 - Calanoid Copepod

Photo by @gemfyre

Another crustacean from the gnamma hole! It's the transparent one-eyed critter dragging a bundle of eggs behind it like a bunch of onions.

The Calanoida are planktonic copepods that include around 46 families and some 1800 species. They live in both marine and freshwater environments, and can be the dominant zooplankton. The largest calanoids reach almost 2cm in length - but most are well under 2.0 mm.

Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Dingo Rock

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#3060 - Fam. Daphniidae - Water Fleas

Photos by @gemfyre

Another freshwater crustacean from the Dingo Rock gnamma hole (and there's some even tiny Ostracods in the photo, too).

I'm not sure which genus - there are certainly Daphnia species known from gnamma holes - D. jollyi, for example, is a WA endemic, but we get other genera too, such as Simocephalus.

There are at least 150 species in Daphnia, alone. Most of them, like their relatives, can reproduce asexually, with occasional sexual reproduction to produce eggs that can survive extended drought or transport over long distances.

Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Dingo Rock

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#3058 - Lynceus sp.

One of the mornings for the Great Southern BioBlitz was spent out on Dingo Rock, one of the granite inselbergs in the area. It took me quite a long time to find the gnamma hole I'd seen on a previous trip, but once I did I mostly neglected the rest of the rock, since it was crawling with fascinating species. Gnamma holes are quite important to the local wildlife (and previously, the people), since they're the only freshwater available in the entire district, once the hot weather starts. Groundwater around the Wongan Hills is highly saline, which has become a huge problem after the massive landclearing for wheat farming.

Anyway - one of the species in the pool were these almost grape-sized Clam Shrimp, frantically mating before the shallow parts of the pool dried out completely. The eggs will survived, encysted, in the dry mud at the bottom of the pond until the winter rains come around again. In some species the eggs can wait seven years.

Clam Shrimp have been around since at least the Devonian. Most genera swim using their antennae, but Lynceus can open their bivalved carapace enough to swim with the legs as well.

Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Dingo Rock

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#3059 - Eulimnadia sp.

As well as the enormous Lynceus, there were these smaller Clam Shrimp, from a different family, swimming about. There are 13 described species in the genus, and the family is found in seasonal wetlands, inland saline pools and lakes worldwide, with the exception of Antarctica where it gets a bit nippy.

Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Dingo Rock

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#3196 - Stylidium asteroideum

Observation and photo by Chris Punter.

A Near Threatened microgeophytic species of Triggerplant, growing from tiny drought resistant corms in the wetter months, found only a scattered locations across the Western Wheatbelt. In this case on top of the Dingo Rock Inselberg.

GSB2024 , Wongan Hills - Dingo Rock Inselberg

[longtimedepwine]

Dingo Rock (Red) (Australia) 750ml $12.60 12.5%

Appearance:

Deep, ruby red – consistent all the way through

Like pre-set Jello

Intermediate-timed legs

Aroma:

A punch to the nostril - like it may make you blind

Super high-end (not to be mistaken as meaning luxury)

Quite bland

Taste:

Wet in the mouth, dry in the throat

Nothing going on, flavour dissipates quickly

Super dry through the end

Final Thoughts:

“Not the symphony in my mouth I expected, hopefully there’s another bottle around here somewhere”

“A little thin and lack of flavour, but alright”

“It tastes like nothing and leaves a shitty aftertaste, but if you want a wine you can chug…”

“I didn’t like that at all”

“Pleasantly surprised by how palatable, when I drink this wine I do not want to vomit”

“A wine to drink while, in the background, a self-depreciating friend plays a lovely little tune on an acoustic guitar (the sweet sounds make you forget about the lack of anything going on in your mouth)”