BERRY SKY

Auranticarpa rhombifolia is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. Known as the diamond leaf pittosporum, this tree is planted in many parts of Australia as an ornamental. The white flowers and orange fruit make it a most appealing street or garden tree. Other common names include hollywood, diamond leaf laurel, white myrtle and white holly. 

Australian botanists recently examined the large genus Pittosporum and decided the more northerly examples are significantly different from those in the south. Subsequently, a new genus was created Auranticarpa, which means "gold fruit". The range of natural distribution is on red–brown basaltic soils from Richmond River, New South Wales (28° S) to Forty Mile Scrub National Park (18° S) in tropical Queensland.

The tree grows well in Melbourne and its masses of small golden orange fruit make for a cheerful sight in Winter.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

BLUEBELL CREEPER

Billardiera heterophylla (formerly Sollya heterophylla) is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae, known by the common name bluebell creeper. It is native to Western Australia, but is grown as an ornamental plant in appropriate climates worldwide. It can sometimes be found growing in the wild as an introduced species or garden escapee, for example in other Australian states and in California, where it is popular in landscaping. It is sometimes considered a weed.

It is a climbing shrub with vine-like branches that twine around other plants for support. The glossy green leaves are up to 5 cm long. The inflorescence is a single hanging flower or pendent array of up to five. The flower has five petals up to 1 cm long which may be white to deep blue or pinkish in colour. The fruit is a berry up to 3 cm long with pulpy flesh and many seeds. The cylindrical, sausage-shaped fruits ripen to greenish- or blue-purple or black in colour. The specific epithet heterophylla means "with various or diverse leaves". This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.