Australia's favourite wildflower is about to be named after 70,000 votes

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By Jacinta Bowler

By Nelli Saarinen

Topic:Native Species

The ABC is on the lookout for Australia's most amazing native wildflower this National Science Week, as voted by our audience.

Follow along on our live blog as we unearth the winning flower.

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By Jacinta Bowler

Those gorgeous colour changing flowers got people on side.

With 5,007 votes, or 6.9 per cent, these little beauties attract native bees and insects with their coloured signalling system.

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By Jacinta Bowler

This tough Tasmanian flower made it to the big leagues.

With 3,676 votes, it's nothing to be sniffed at.

Although looking at this cute little lizard having a nibble maybe still bitten at.

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By Jacinta Bowler

Our sweet-smelling flame has been snuffed out!

The creamy candle — which has tiny star-like flowers came in ninth with 2,889 votes.

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By Jacinta Bowler

Ahhh! Poor little guy.

These plants suck up insects at incredibly fast speeds and slowly digest them for nutrients.

But with the lowest number of votes, 2,036, it seems the bladderwort couldn't vacuum its way into our hearts. 😔

By Jacinta Bowler

Our friends over on Radio National are also counting down the top 10 alongside the blog.

Currently, they're in a studio absolutely studded with plants just down the hall from me!

Listen in!

By Jacinta Bowler

It's the all-important moment you've been waiting for — time for us to start to unveil how our plucky wildflowers did.

Drum roll, please…

By Jacinta Bowler

The Duck Orchid has my vote! What a cool wildflower! Was torn between this and the Murnong. My nan used to talk about the Yam Daisy a lot 😍

- Natty

Fun fact about the duck orchid: The first time it was formally described by Europeans was in 1810!

By Nelli Saarinen

Got a wildflower-related question? Ask our experts:

Send your question in by clicking the "Comment" button at the top of the page, underneath "submit comment or question".

By Jacinta Bowler

One of our readers, Steve Taylor, let us know this touching story about why he voted for the flying duck orchid.

"I chose it in memory of a former parks ranger, colleague, and friend, Jenny Conolly.

Jenny, died all too soon after retirement to the NSW south coast. In retirement, she located new significant populations of plant species, both rare natives, and invasive weeds.

One of the new native plant populations she found was of the large flying duck orchid, at a location near Moruya."

Using Jenny's observation and work, the council was able to put in place management to better protect the site.

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By Jacinta Bowler

Why restrict it to these 10? Why not a Waratah?

- Ted

This is a good question! Here's what our science journalist and flower expert, Rose Kerr, had to say:

Got a question? Send it to us by clicking the "Comment" button at the top of the page, underneath "submit comment or question".

By Jacinta Bowler

While you can plant them yourself, there are more and more diverse, colourful native plant gardens appearing around Australia.

These have been organised by local councils, and the particular garden is called "woody meadows".

Check out the article below to hear how it got started, and how to get your local council involved in planting their own version.

By Jacinta Bowler

Alice Ryder, the manager of National Science Week and proud Wiradjuri woman, is voting for the underground orchid.

"As someone who used to work in environmental science, and an avid bushwalker, this is such a hard choice for me," she says.

"My favourite flower from this list was a toss up between duck orchids and underground orchids… but underground orchids take the cake for me. They look like a cross between a delicious tropical fruit and an alien! They are mysterious and defy most of the ideas we normally have about plants… but I think being out-of-the-ordinary is great and deserves to be celebrated!

"Their relationship with animals such as bandicoots is also fascinating and reminds us that we can’t care for one animal or plant in isolation, without caring for the whole ecosystem around it.

"As a Wiradjuri woman, the idea of connectivity and relationships is super important to me… we are all connected in a myriad of ways with the different parts of the world around us, and we need to foster and value all of those relationships.

By Jacinta Bowler

"My vote's for the bladderwort. Their flowers are small, delicate and beautiful, standing proudly on a stalk from water or swampy ground.

"But don't be fooled by these innocent-looking blooms because these plants are stone-cold killers.

"Beneath the water or soil you'll find one of the plant kingdom's fastest and most sophisticated prey capture systems. Hanging off runner-like stems are hundreds of tiny vacuum-like hollow bladders, which are sealed by a trapdoor. If an unsuspecting organism brushes up against trigger hairs near the trapdoor, the trapdoor swings open, slurps the unfortunate organism inside the bladder, and slam shut again.

"This all happens in a matter of milliseconds.

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By Nelli Saarinen

What have you always wanted to know about wildflowers?

Our expert panel of guests is here to answer your questions:

Send your question in by clicking the "Comment" button at the top of the page, underneath "submit comment or question".

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By Nelli Saarinen

Thank you to the more than 70,000 people who voted for their favourite flowers. That's a pretty amazing turnout!

By Jacinta Bowler

Star flowers (Calytrix) use a clever traffic-light-style signalling system to communicate with their pollinators.

The stamens, which are the male reproductive organs in the centre of the flower, change from yellow to red to signal less availability of nectar.

Fun Fact: Insects are more attracted to yellow, which means they are more likely to go to unpollinated flowers.

If you're starry-eyed for the star flower, only a few more minutes to vote!

By Jacinta Bowler

The underground orchid (Rhizanthella) — my personal favourite — relies completely on its fungal partner and lives underground, with only flowers penetrating the top layer of soil.

No green leaves, and its flowers are tiny and fleshy.

It's basically a mushroom in flower form!

Fun fact: The underground orchid evolved around 32 million years ago, with the split between east and west coast species in Australia occurring about 9 million years ago.

You know you want to vote for the underground orchid. 😉

By Nelli Saarinen

The voting for the wildflower of the year is about to close at 11:30am, so this is your chance to cast your vote for your favourite bloom.

May the best flower win! 👑

By Jacinta Bowler

Richea scoparia (Richea scoparia) is a specialist that thrives in the cold mountains of Tasmania.

To survive, they have an unusual adaptation to the cold: their petals are fused together to form a protective cap called a calyptra over the plant's reproductive parts.

Fun fact: Snow skinks and birds often assist with pulling off the protective cap to try to get to the sweet nectar within it.

Then insects will come through and pollinate the plants.

If you think this Tasmanian local is a winner, vote for it here.

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