Australia has a soft spot for the amazing flannel flower

Flannel flower rises from fire to win Australia's heart With soft woolly (and sometimes feathery) star-shaped flowers and grey-green foliage, the flannel flower is a well-known wildflower. But this beautiful flower has a few superpowers up its floral sleeve. Out of a group of 10 incredible native flowering plants, the flannel flower has been crowned Australia's most amazing wildflower for National Science Week 2026. Flannel flowers might look a daisy but they're actually in the Apiaceae family, which includes carrots, celery, parsley, fennel, coriander and cumin. They even have a carroty smell when they are cut. While most of us are familiar with the beautiful east coast flannel flower Actinotus helianthi — you'll find it in florists and nurseries — there are actually 14 species found in Australia, and one in New Zealand. The two most common species in Western Australia are Actinotus leucocephalus with creamy white flower heads; and Actinotus superbus, known for its prominent, showy white flowers. In the NT, Actinotus schwarzii, is found only on the cliffs of Standley Chasm, says Cathy Offord, head of Australian PlantBank research at the Australian Botanic Gardens. Tasmania has the tiny crimson flannel flower (Actinotus suffocatus). Hope from the ashes After the devastating 2020 Black Summer bushfires, pink flannel flower (Actinotus forsythii) bloomed across eastern NSW in places they hadn't been seen in decades. The flowers literally rose from the ashes in their billions in a symbol of hope and resilience. Dr Offord says the flowers will last for between three to 15 years. "Mass flowering events produce billions of plants and then over the next couple of years they just fade away." Several other flannel flower species, including two from Western Australia, are known to bloom en masse within a year or two of bushfire. "One to two years after fire you'll just see a carpet of these flowers," says Dani Hamilton of Kings Park and Botanic Gardens in Perth. "It's quite breathtaking," Seeds have the power of dormancy Flannel flower seeds can survive for decades in the soil in a dormant state, a trick that explains the plant's ability to suddenly pop up in places it hasn't been seen for decades. Seed dormancy is found in all flannel flower species. "They all have this weird dormancy mechanism that responds to a variety of cues," Dr Offord says. For flannel flowers that bloom after bushfire, the cues are typically smoke from fire awakening the seeds, and then rain. But what "awakens" the sleeping flannel flower seeds can vary between locations and species. "There's no one thing that will break that dormancy, no one thing that you can say, 'Oh, you do this,'" Dr Offord says. "There's rain, smoke, wetting and drying cycles through the years, possibly heat. Also the length of time the seed has been in the soil. "So there's no straightforward story around that, other than they do have this dormancy, which helps them to survive in sometimes hostile environments.' Talara'tingi a significant D'harawal flower For the D'harawal people, the flannel flower, known as Talara'tingi, is linked to one of their most significant places, says Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews, a D'harawal scholar at Western Sydney University. "The story is that there was a time where children had not ever seen the Sun. A young girl, named Tiana travelled to a significant place and realised that the people had not been taking care of the country." The story holds two important lessons: to remember the laws, protocols and need to look after country to ensure it is healthy, and to listen to the youth, who can also bring wisdom. Hope and health was brought back to country and Tiana was gifted with the springing of the flannel flowers, shaped like a star and with leaves covered in a very fine type of fur that looks like frost. Hence the name Talara'tingi, which means star of frost. "The flowering of the flannel flower in the story indicated the ending of a long winter or maybe an ice age. Which gives an indication of how old this story truly is, and how long it's survived," Professor Bodkin-Andrews says. You can grow them yourself (or buy a bunch) Many years ago, Dr Offord worked with the cut flower industry to develop varieties of Actinotus helianthi suitable for cultivation. "At one stage, they were only being harvested from the wild," she says. "Now there are a few growers who cultivate flannel flowers and they have a much superior vase life and look beautiful." While it's illegal to collect flannel flower plants or seeds without a permit, you can still grow them at home. Many nurseries sell the plants or seeds. "They're quite self-sufficient," Dr Offord says. "We generally suggest to grow them in pots. It's much easier to control their growth than in soil, because they do prefer to live in a somewhat light sandy soil. "And they don't need a lot of fertiliser." Where to see them in the wild The flannel flower's sleeping seeds make it hard to predict where, or when, it might bloom. "They can be quite ephemeral," Dr Offord says. "You can have them growing somewhere and people will say, 'Oh, they're growing in a great abundance here.' You go back a few years later and they've gone." Yet, at some point, probably after a bushfire, the flowers will rise from the ashes like a floral phoenix, bringing hope and joy to those who see them whether in the wild or through media viewed across the world. Definitely amazing!