Vote now for Australia’s most amazing wildflower this Science Week
Media release from the ABC Radio National
To celebrate National Science Week 2026, ABC Radio National is calling on audiences to vote for Australia’s Most Amazing Wildflower. Voting is open now and the winner will be announced live on air on ABC Radio National on Friday 21 August, starting from 12pm AEST.
With the help of native wildflower experts, ABC Radio National’s science unit has curated a list of ten remarkable flowering plants from across the country. Not just another banksia or waratah, but the unsung blooms that also do something unbelievable. Each contender is more than just a pretty face — every one hides a surprising superpower.
The ten wildflowers vying for the title are:
- Bladderwort (Utricularia)- Traps and digests insects inside tiny floating “bladders”
- Star flower (Calytrix) – Changes colour like a traffic light to direct pollinators
- Flannel flower (Actinotus)– Blooms from bushfire ashes like a floral phoenix
- Flying duck orchid (Caleana) – Traps insects for pollination and looks like a duck!
- Mulla mulla (Ptilotus) – Thrives, and flowers, in tough, hot arid environments
- Murnong/yam daisy (Microseris) – Provided a significant year-round nutritious food for Indigenous people
- Richea scoparia – Survives extreme cold and feeds snow skinks
- Creamy candle (Stackhousia)– Looks like a candle and emits a sweet fragrance at night
- Triggerplant (Stylidium) – Hits insects with pollen using a catapult-like trigger
- Underground orchid ( Rhizanthella) – Lives underground and looks like a tiny demogorgan
Dr Ann Jones from Radio National podcast What the Duck?!said: “Flowers are often the showiest bit of the plant – but they’re also hard workers – they’ve gotta look pretty, maybe feed the insect multitudes, produce powdery stuff, and then transform themselves into the seeds of life – literally.
“And more than that, flowers carry cultural weight for us humans – they mark seasons, symbolise love and mourning and celebrate birth. Not to mention the fact we can eat some of them and also extract medicinal compounds.
“They’re the little engine that could – propping up global ecosystems and humanity all while looking fabulous. It’s time to give our wildflowers the attention they deserve.”
ABC NEWS, ABC Radio National , ABC Local, ABC iview and ABC’s social media accounts will be sharing lots of fascinating interviews and stories about our native wildflowers between 5th-22nd August.
Let’s celebrate the strange, spectacular and surprising side of Australian nature this Science Week.
To cast your vote or find out more about these unsung blooms, head to the ABC Website or ABC Science Facebook and ABC Radio National Instagram.
For further information please contact:
Rob Caulley, ABC Publicist
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
