Strawflower
Xerochrysum bracteatum
Strawflower · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 26 July 2025
What look like petals are stiff, papery bracts rather than true petals, which is why strawflowers dry so well for arrangements.
The actual flowers are the small tufted florets packed into the orange centre, where a hoverfly is doing the real work. An Australian, from country where a flower that never wilts is a sensible thing to be.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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