SpinifexMeaning: Dangerous pleasuresTriodia | Central Australia Tjanpi (Pit.) is a tough, spiky grass dominating much of Australia's interior red sand country, thriving on the poorest, most arid soils the desert has to offer. Tussock-forming, its roots go deep, often as far down as three meters. Certain types are used by Anangu to make a resin adhesive.

Alice came upon treasure after treasure: everlasting daisies in pastel pinks and yellows, trails of grey and white feathers, boughs heavy with blossom buds on the gum trees. She breathed in the warm earth and appreciated the sky, a blend of soldier-crab blue and every shade of purple in a pipi shell. The desert's an old dream of the sea.

River red gumMeaning: EnchantmentEucalyptus camaldulensis | All states and territoriesIconic Australian tree. Smooth bark sheds in long ribbons. Has a large, dense crown of leaves. Seeds require regular spring floods to survive. Flowers late spring to mid-summer. Has the ominous nickname 'widow maker', as it often drops large boughs (up to half the diameter of the trunk) without warning.

Desert oakMeaning: ResurrectionAllocasuarina decaisneana | Central AustraliaKurkara (Pit.) have deeply furrowed, cork-like bark, which is fire-retardant. Slow-growing but fast to develop a taproot that can reach subsurface water at depths over ten meters. Mature trees form a large, bushy canopy. Many found in the central desert are likely to be more than one thousand years old.

River LilyMeaning: Love concealedCrinum pedunculatum | Eastern AustraliaVery large perennial usually found on the edge of forests, but also at the high-tide level close to mangroves. Fragrant, white slender star-shaped flowers. Seeds sometimes germinate while still attached to the parent plant. The sap has been used as a treatment for box jellyfish stings.

Desert heath-myrtleMeaning: Flame, I burnThryptomene maisonneuvii | Northern TerritoryTraditionally, Anangu women beat pukara (Pit.) with a wooden bowl to collect dew containing nectar from the flowers. Thryptomene, derived from Greek, means coy or prudish; this bush appears modest but in winter through to spring produces a cloak of tiny white flowers with red centres, blooming as if revealing a secret.