Life in the Cushion Plants

February 3, 2012

Summer in the mountains is flower time. Most Tasmanian flowers are small enough as it is, but the flowers that bloom on the cushion plants are very small indeed. Cushion plants, for those who aren’t familiar with them, are a very rigid plant that grows on the ground in bright green round clumps. It is an alpine plant, only growing at quite high elevations. It is also an incredibly sensitive plant, and all care should be taken to not walk on these plants. They take decades to recover (if they ever do) after being trampled on. The best way to photograph flowers this small is of course by attaching the macro lens, and after climbing Cradle Mountain on a particularly warm day recently I was more than happy to take a break during the walk back by dropping my backpack and lying on the track to take a close look at these beautiful flowers. Luckilly not very many people at all seem to use the Horse Track at Cradle Mountain!