Kings Park, to the south west of Perth’s CBD, is one of the world’s largest inner city parks. The park area contains picnic areas, memorials, a tennis club, cafes, reservoirs and remnant bushland. Most of my time in Kings Park has been spent on the paths in this bushland photographing flowers whilst they are still novel to me as a recently transplanted South Australian.

The Xanthorrhoea, also know as yakka, grasstree or blackboy, is a perennial Australian native plant often featuring a spike from which its flowers grow. The spike is usually straight but can vary in shape.

A young Xanthorrhoea spike posing a question in its pre-flowering stage

A straighter spike, also yet to flower

Bees extracting nectar from a flowering Xanthorrhoea spike

A close-up photo of a fly on the white Xanthorrhoea blossom