Extract from ABC News
The moodjar tree, also known as the Christmas tree in Western Australia, feeds off other plants below ground. (ABC Midwest Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis)
The world's largest mistletoe, a spider the size of your fingernail and colourful bell-shaped plants that flower just in time for the festive season.
These iconic species of flora and fauna are some of the natural wonders to look forward to at this time of the year in Australia.
The WA Christmas tree flowers with iconic orange colours. (ABC Midwest Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis)
Christmas in the bush
As the harsh heat of summer begins to dry out Australia's bushland, "bursts of colour" have emerged across WA's south-west.
The moodjar tree, also known as the WA Christmas tree, flowers during the Noongar season of Birak and coincides with the holiday season.
The parasitic tree is also the world's largest mistletoe species.
A WA Christmas tree flowers brightly in the bush. (ABC News: Jo Prendergast)
Former Department of Biodiversity, Conservations and Attractions entomologist Darryl Hardie said he had noticed the tree blooming in abundance this year.
"I've noticed the bushes going from this lovely green and starting to get a bit grey or bluey green because it's dying off a little bit as [the weather] dries out," he said.
"Then you get these wonderful bursts of orange colour of the Christmas tree … the contrast is fantastic."
While festive flora might be easy to spot, Dr Hardie said insects associated with the holiday season required a keen eye to find.
Christmas spiders are found in high numbers during warmer months in southern WA. (Supplied: Lee Murphy)
He said Christmas spiders, or the six-pointed spider, was colourful like a "Christmas bauble" but people likely walked into their webs before seeing the insect.
"They're colourful but they're probably only the size of your fingernail on your pointer finger,"Dr Hardie said.
"You may walk through their webs that they spin across paths … they sit in the middle waiting for insects."
Take a curious and up-close look at Austracantha minax, also known as the Christmas spider, in a front yard. (ABC Open contributor zartok via ABC Open Riverina NSW)
Dr Hardie said the Christmas scarab beetle was drawn out of hiding at this time of year with the "golden" December temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius.
Christmas beetles are drawn out by the warmer weather when it is time to mate. (Supplied: Caitlin Henderson)
He said the beetles out around Christmas time were adults looking to mate.
"But they've been underground for many years as grubs feeding on roots and native trees," he said.
"They fly in very good straight lines and I've had a couple over the years that have flown in the side of my head, they make a bit of a thud when they hit you."
You can appreciate the iridescent shine of a true Christmas beetle when you take a close look. (Supplied: Tanya Latty)
Plants shaped like bells and emus
University of New South Wales botanist Chantelle Doyle said other flora species were starting to bloom on Australia's east coast.
"The Christmas bells plant is quite famous at this time of year because they have these yellow and red bell-shaped flowers that are really characteristic in heathland," she said.
Tasmania's Christmas bells also bloom during December. (Supplied: Bob Brown)
Dr Doyle said the bells flowered in December because "they're not very competitive".
"They sit as this little tussock of grass for a lot of the year … then at this time of year when a lot of things have finished flowering they go yep, it's time to flower."
She said the New South Wales Christmas bush was also especially "amazing at the moment".
The NSW Christmas bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum). (Flickr: Ceratopetalum gummiferum 101210-0998, Tony Rodd, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
"It gets sold by a lot of florists at Christmas time because it's got what looks like this profusion of red flowers all over with a shape like a three-pronged emu foot," Dr Doyle said.
While many flowers and plants associated with summer are covered in festive colours, Dr Doyle's favourite species each year was the Angophora costata, or the smooth-barked apple gumtree.
Chantelle Doyle says she loves to witness the bark peeling off the Angophora costata, also known as smooth-barked apple. (Supplied: Chantelle Doyle)
"You can tell they're Angophora because they have these amazing twisted branches and they're hanging over places, they're a little creepy sometimes but also just stunning," she said.
"I like it for its amazing smooth salmon-coloured bark but as the year progresses the bark gets kind of grey … it's getting rid of it all and putting a new layer on."
Dr Doyle said the arrival of the festive flora and fauna was a good excuse to take a breath and reflect on the past year.
"I know this time of year is hectic for a lot of us but actually it's nice to take a little breath and go for a bushwalk or even walk down to your local park and see what's flowering,"she said.
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