Compare also with Backhousia subargentea (synonym: Choricarpia subargentea) . Has stamens tomentose .
Also growing in the botanic gardens there .
Whereas Backhousia leptopetala has stamens glabrous (hairless) .
In these photographs so far i could not quite make out whether these stamens have hairs on them or not .
More possible candidate species especially in this Myrtaceae botanical family and a few more botanical families i suggest as candidates such as Cunoniaceae eg. Callicoma serratifolia . To check .
And let's check the botanic gardens plantings in the field and in the gardens inventory if this species or a related species has been planted and grows as a tree here above this spot ?
Ref' to start with (in brief, without full citation):
• Flora of NSW online PlantNet : https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Backhousia~leptopetala
• Australian Plant Image Index photographs: https://anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apiiName2?name=Backhousia+leptopetala .
My guess is that the photo is of about seven 'spent' flowers that have fallen from a tree, the base of each flower (we're looking at them side-on) showing 2-3 yellowish sepals and bundles of purplish-brown stamens that have been caught up with each other to the form the single 'mass'. The anthers are very small but visible in a couple of the photos.
Very strange! The cone-shaped objects remind me of the reproductive structures of some thallose liverworts such as Asterella. It could have perhaps dropped from some epiphytic species growing above. The mass of filaments could be rhizoids.
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