Two isolated specimens on an exposed, steep, north-facing rocky slope at about 1475m AMSL. Leaves and stem were a deep purple/maroon colour (possibly a reaction to the sub-zero temperatures).
I sought advice from Keith McDougall in OEH about this one who said "Philotheca myoporoides subsp. myoporoides is probably right but it could be worth following up with a specimen when in flower. There are already a bunch of subspecies and the person who did the last revision mentions a mountain form of subsp myoporoides, something called Eriostemon lancifolius, which is now regarded as a synonym of P m subsp. m, and plenty of local variation. See Muelleria Vol 11 p113-126 for more information. Wouldn’t surprise me if there were more subsp to be described." Poidr do you have a collection permit for NSW? Could you go back to collect a specimen?
I don't have a collection permit for NSW and so won't be able to collect a specimen I'm afraid. I will be back in the area within the next 4 weeks though, and will try to find and photograph the plant again - hopefully, it won't have finished flowering. If I find it, I'll upload another photo.
This area is about 750m north of the burnt area and appears to have been untouched. If you open Google Earth and search for Michelago, you will find a photo almost exactly 10km due east of the town that shows 'The Onion'. This is very close to the plant. Now, if you change the date of the satellite photography to 2010 (you'll probably have to zoom in a bit until the slider to change the date appears) you'll see clearly the extent of the fires. I hope this helps. By the way, I was out there again on Wednesday and can report that the plant has not changed; i.e. the flowers have not opened. I took more photos, but won't bother posting them as they don't add anything. Weather permitting, I intend having another look in 4 weeks - any later and it will be too hot slog my way up there.
I'll do my best! I also photographed some close cousins on Wednesday. These were shrubs of more than 1.2 metres tall and with the flower buds placed differently, while the specimen above is less than 30 cm in height. I'll add one of these as a separate sighting.
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