10 Australian native plants with unusually dark flowers
True black is almost impossible in a flower. A flower that absorbs all light has nothing to reflect toward a pollinator, which means it cannot be seen to survive. What we call dark flowers is a show of pigmentation being pushed to its limit. The Australian flora has a number of plants at this extreme.
Raffi Kojian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
These plants range from genuinely near-black to deep maroon, wine-red, chocolate-brown and indigo. Several are found on mountain peaks in far north Queensland, or on a handful of WA sandplain localities, or in the arid interior. What connects them is an unusual and underexplored quality in our local plants.
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1. Black kangaroo paw (Macropidia fuliginosa)
Macropidia fuliginosa is a plant so visually distinct from all other kangaroo paws that it required its own taxonomic category. The reason for that separation is immediately visible: where all other kangaroo paws produce flowers in shades of red, yellow, orange or green, it produces flowers that are genuinely, unmistakably black.
Black kangaroo paw — the only species in its genus, producing black and green flowers unlike any other plant in the Australian flora.
The black flower colour is thought to generate heat through solar absorption, warming the reproductive structures and potentially providing a thermal advantage to pollinators visiting on cool mornings.
In the garden
Plant in full sun in very free-draining, sandy, slightly acidic soil. Always use a low-phosphorus native fertiliser. Remove spent flower stems at the base with sharp secateurs. It suits Mediterranean-climate gardens in WA and SA and performs well in containers where drainage can be controlled.
2. Black coral pea (Kennedia nigricans)
Black coral pea produces the closest thing to a genuinely black pea flower in the Australian flora. The colour combination is striking because it inverts the expectations of the pea flower family, which is dominated by purple, pink, yellow and red.
Black coral pea — near-black banner petals with a vivid yellow keel, one of the darkest pea flowers in the global Fabaceae family.
It scrambles through the understorey of jarrah forest and coastal heath, where it climbs over adjacent shrubs and produces its dark flowers prolifically through winter and spring.
In the garden
Plant in full sun to part shade in free-draining, slightly acidic soil. Like all legumes it fixes nitrogen through root nodules and improves soil nitrogen over time. Prune back after flowering with sharp secateurs to maintain a compact, manageable form.
3. Brown boronia (Boronia megastigma)
The flowers of brown boronia are deep chocolate brown on the outside and yellow inside, a colour combination so unusual that the plant is immediately identifiable on sight and has no close visual equivalent in any other Australian shrub.
Brown boronia — deep chocolate-brown exterior and yellow interior, producing one of the most complex fragrances in the Australian flora.
This is the same pigmentation that produces the darkest tones in native orchid labella and the maroon-red of bitter-pea flowers, here applied to the outer surface of a flower whose interior and fragrance tell a completely different story.
In the garden
Plant in part shade in free-draining, slightly acidic soil. Consistent moisture during the growing season is important but waterlogging at any point is fatal. Prune by one third with sharp secateurs immediately after flowering every year without exception.
4. Native rhododendron (Rhododendron lochiae)
Australia has two native rhododendrons — Rhododendron lochiae and Rhododendron viriosum. Both are found on an extraordinarily restricted range: nine mountain peaks and tablelands in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area of far north QLD.
阿橋 HQ, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Native rhododendron — deep red bell flowers on one of only two rhododendrons native to Australia, found on nine mountain peaks in far north Queensland.
The flowers are bells at the darker, more saturated end of red. They grow in permanent mist, in conditions that most Australian garden plants would not survive for a week. Despite this origin, R. lochiae grows with relative ease from cuttings and has been cultivated in temperate Australian gardens since the 1950s.
In the garden
Plant in part shade to full shade in free-draining, moist, acid soil rich in organic matter. It suits sheltered positions under established trees, beside south-facing walls, or in containers in an orchid-style potting mix. Use ollas to maintain consistent root zone moisture without overwatering.
Why dark flowers exist
In the Australian flora, extreme pigmentation serves several functions. In some species the dark colour generates heat through solar absorption, warming the flower and creating a thermal reward for pollinators visiting in cool conditions. In others, the darkness is thought to mimic the rotting matter or dung that certain fly pollinators use as breeding sites, attracting them by deception rather than reward. In most cases the precise ecological reason for the dark colouration is not fully understood — the explanations are still being worked out.
5. Sweet apple berry (Billardiera cymosa)
Sweet apple berry produces some of the darkest flowers of any vining native. The small pendulous bells have a deep maroon centre that ranges from wine to black-purple. The plant belongs to the Pittosporaceae family and is closely related to the more commonly grown scrambling billardiera species.
Sweet apple berry — deep maroon-purple pendulous bells followed by sweet edible fruit, almost entirely unknown as a garden plant.
The flowers are followed by small fleshy fruits that are sweet and edible and give the plant its common name.
In the garden
It suits cool temperate and dry temperate gardens across SA, VIC and WA as a scrambling groundcover or low climber over a low fence or rock wall. It tolerates moderate drought once established and moderate frost. Prune lightly after fruiting with sharp secateurs to maintain a tidy form.
6. Black-eyed Susan (Tetratheca thymifolia)
The common name black-eyed Susan is shared with several unrelated plants, but in the Australian context it refers to the Tetratheca genus — small heath shrubs that produce four-petalled flowers in deep wine-pink to maroon with dramatically prominent black anthers at the centre.
Black-eyed Susan — wine-maroon petals and dramatically prominent black anthers, producing one of the darkest overall colour effects in the eastern flora.
Tetratheca thymifolia is the most widely distributed of the genus and one of the most free-flowering, producing its dark blooms prolifically through late winter and spring on a compact shrub with small thyme-like leaves that are sticky and aromatic.
In the garden
It suits cool and temperate gardens across NSW, VIC, QLD and TAS and tolerates moderate frost. Use a low-phosphorus native fertiliser in early autumn. It performs well in pots and suits the front of a native border where the dark flowers can be seen at close range.
7. Purple dampiera (Dampiera purpurea)
Purple dampiera is among the most deeply pigmented of all native groundcovers. The flowers sit at the darkest end of the purple spectrum and reads as almost navy in certain light. It spreads slowly from a central rootstock to form a low mat of soft grey-green foliage.
Allthingsnative, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Purple dampiera — saturated indigo-purple that reads as almost navy in certain light, with controlled-approach flower architecture.
The flower structure is zygomorphic meaning asymmetric, like the scaevola fan flower. This controlled-approach architecture is characteristic of the Goodeniaceae family and it represents the same precision pollination engineering described in the unseen intelligence article.
In the garden
It tolerates moderate drought once established and suits dry temperate gardens across NSW, QLD and SA. It spreads slowly and suits the front of a native border, rock gardens and low planting beneath larger shrubs. Divide congested clumps in autumn using a hand fork. Do not over-fertilise — it is adapted to lean soils.
8. Broad-leaf bitter-pea (Daviesia latifolia)
The bitter-pea genus (Daviesia) contains some of the most intensely maroon-coloured pea flowers in the Australian flora, and Daviesia latifolia is the most garden-appropriate of the dark-flowered species. It is a medium shrub with broad oval leaves and a naturally tidy, upright form that fits comfortably into a mixed native border.
Broad-leaf bitter-pea — deep maroon banner petals with a yellow keel, one of the most garden-appropriate of the dark-flowered pea shrubs.
The bitter-pea genus gets its common name from the bitter compounds in the foliage and seed pods, which are toxic to livestock but play an important role in deterring grazing in the heath communities where these plants grow naturally. It flowers prolifically through late winter and spring, attracting native bees and small honeyeaters.
In the garden
Plant in full sun to part shade in free-draining, slightly acidic soil. It suits cool and temperate gardens across VIC, NSW, TAS and SA and tolerates moderate frost. Like all legumes it fixes nitrogen and improves soil health over time. Prune lightly after flowering with sharp secateurs to maintain a compact form.
9. Sturt's desert pea (Swainsona formosa)
Sturt's desert pea is the floral emblem of South Australia and one of the most immediately recognisable native flowers in the country. The defining feature of the flower is the boss: a dramatically raised, glossy, jet-black dome at the centre of each flower that is one of the darkest structures produced by any Australian plant. It is unlike anything else in the arid flora.
Sturt's desert pea — vivid scarlet petals with a jet-black glossy boss at the centre, one of the most striking colour contrasts in the Australian flora.
It grows naturally across the arid and semi-arid interior of all mainland states, trailing across the ground in open mulga and desert communities after rain events. In cultivation it is notoriously difficult to establish from seed and resents root disturbance above all else.
In the garden
Plant in full sun in very free-draining, sandy or gravelly soil. It does not tolerate waterlogging, humidity or root disturbance. In dry temperate and arid gardens across SA, WA and inland NSW and QLD, seek out grafted forms from specialist native nurseries for the best results. Water sparingly once established — ollas provide the slow, deep moisture delivery these plants prefer.
10. Mallee thryptomene (Thryptomene maisonneuvii)
Mallee thryptomene is one of the more obscure entries on this list. It is a compact mallee shrub that covers itself in masses of flowers through late winter and spring. Each flower is small, with five petals in a deep burgundy-red that approaches maroon, but the sheer number of flowers produced simultaneously on a well-established plant creates an overall effect of considerable depth.
Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mallee thryptomene — masses of tiny deep wine-red flowers in late winter and spring, with a character more reminiscent of heather than a typical Australian shrub.
The genus Thryptomene belongs to the Myrtaceae family; the same family as eucalypts, melaleucas and grevilleas. It grows naturally in mallee and dry sclerophyll communities across SA and VIC, where it tolerates the combination of summer heat, winter cold and intermittent drought that defines those landscapes.
In the garden
Plant in full sun in free-draining, slightly acidic soil. Prune lightly after flowering with sharp secateurs to maintain a dense, productive form. Available from specialist native nurseries in SA and VIC.
Dark in the Australian garden
The plants on this list are operating at the extreme of their colour range, pushing pigmentation further than the average member of their genus, their family or their ecological community.
Sturt's desert pea in its natural habitat — the black boss against scarlet petals is unlike any other flower in the arid flora.
The black kangaroo paw and its genus of one. The black coral pea with no close equivalent in the global pea family. The native rhododendron on nine mountain peaks. The brown boronia whose fragrance is more famous than its appearance. The mallee thryptomene that behaves like heather and grows in conditions heather would not survive.
Carlquist, Sherwin John, 1930-2021 / Cc-by-4.0, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Many of these plants you won't find at a mainstream nursery on a Saturday morning. But they are worth seeking out for something genuinely unusual in your garden, in a flora that rewards attention more than almost any other on earth.
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