The beautiful delicate flannel flower is so named because of its soft woolly feel. Growing from the NSW south coast, extending to Narrabri in the Central West and up to south-east Queensland, its white (or pink) flowers bloom all year long, with an extra burst of colour in the spring.
While visiting family near Manildra (Central West NSW) in December 2022 my nephew took me for a jaunt to a sheltered, but quite rocky hill to see the flannel flowers. What a treat – they were abundant and had a slightly different appearance from the coastal ones I had seen at Minnie Water further up the coast from Coffs Harbour.
The flannel flower is an Australian native wildflower that grows in coastal health, scrub and dry sclerophyll forest – (typically eucalypts, wattles and banksias) which is a condition closely associated with low soil fertility. Therefore, flannel flowers thrive in a range of environments, including shallow sandy soils.
The erect shrub grows 30-90cm in height, the more common flannel flower has a creamy white flower, whilst the ridge flannel flower is a pretty delicate pink.
