19 Cold and wet time (roughly corresponds to deep winter): cold, wet, frosty, still, cloudy, misty, foggy, short days, southerly winds. The end of crayfish breeding indicates the end of box ironbark forest burning. Plants become too wet and too green to burn, and temperatures become too cold to ignite wi. This season is characterised by germinating murnongs; blooming flowers of early orchids and early nancy; vivid canopy colours reflecting high soil moisture; and ripening quandong fruits. Fungi, mosses, and lichens are colourful and vivid. Bees and birds feed on the nectar of silver wattles and yellow boxes; brushtail phascogales and yung (quolls) breed; caterpillars of butterflies feed on grasses at night; koalas breed and bellow at night; birds begin nesting; and platypus lay eggs. The Arcturus star is on northwestern horizon at sunset and the Sagittarius constellation rises in the southeast after sunset to indicate the midpoint of the cold and wet time.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI3ODI1