SUNDAY TASMANIAN (Hobart, Australia) 09 July 06 Drawn like a lizard to a honey bush
Many flowers need bees to pollinate them but the native Tasmanian honey bush needs a lizard.
The honey bush, or Richea scoparia, carries its delicate reproductive organs inside secure capsules formed by fused petals.
It does this to survive the harsh environment on Hobart's Mt Wellington, where temperatures drop below zero and bitter winds can deliver freezing snow storms.
This is great for protecting against the weather but not so good for insects that cannot enter the capsule to pollinate the plant.
Nor can the seeds get out.
But the plant overcomes the problem with the help of snow skinks, which are common on Mt Wellington.
For most of the year the skinks eat insects but in summer they live on honey bush nectar.
They rip open the capsule, allowing the seeds to escape and pollinating insects to get in.
Fern Tree gardener Kris Schaffer has plenty of snow skinks on her property and the honey bushes are thriving.
Drawn like a lizard to a honey bush