Grace Lee, Once in a lifetime Pink Flannel Flowers_ikara head trail (PLACES WILDERNESS)

Long-dormant pink flannel flowers spring to life in the Blue Mountains. The flowers, known as bushfire ephemerals because their seeds only germinate in specific conditions for the cultivation are met. That is, fire and smoke, followed by sufficient rainfall. The disastrous bushfires of early 2020 that burnt 80% of the Blue Mountains National Park, whilst decimating populations of many creatures, had created the perfect conditions for Pink Flannel Flowers with the subsequent good rains during spring and summer. A sea of colour has swept across wide swaths of the Blue Mountains and are blooming in formerly burnt landscapes from Katoomba to Lithgow and north to Newnes. I live in Blue Mountain, very lucky to see these beautiful pink flannel flowers. The last seen in 1957.

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