Green thumb
What a colourful show they make along our streets.
Hot, humid and wet, it’s summer in Far North Queensland and it’s flowering time for many spectacular native and exotic trees, and what a colourful show they make along our streets and in our backyards.
Delonix regia, Madagascar’s poinciana never lets us down and is always in flower leading up to Christmas.
One of its many common names is the flamboyant tree, and flamboyant it is at the moment with its broad spreading canopy of red colour.
The yellow and white centre of the flower is surrounded by bright red petals, and from the centre of each flower 10 extended stamens with bright red stalks hold the pollen to delight the many insects that come to feast.
The disadvantage of this tree is the long dark flat seed pods, loved by cockatoos who manage to split the pods and consume the seeds.
The seeds that are not eaten can germinate in the ground below the tree and grow rapidly. The flat seed pods can be a debris problem when they fall to the ground.
The other problem with the poinciana is the buttressed roots which spread three to four metres from the main trunk of the tree. These invasive roots can cause damage to footpaths and the foundations of buildings.
Equally as spectacular are the bright red flowers of the native flame tree, Brachychiton acerifolius. The tree sheds its large maple shaped leaves prior to flowering and the small red, bell-shaped flowers are produced on large panicles totally covering the tree in red.
The flame tree, when grown in the open, reaches a height of around 10 metres. The smooth cylindrical trunk grows straight and tall with short ascending branches to form a pyramid shape.
If you search the canopy line of the rainforest you should spot the red flowers of the flame tree amid the dark green of the rainforest canopy.
The bright yellow flowers of Cassia fistula, the golden shower tree of South-East Asia, are a showstopper at the moment. The 40cm racemes of bright yellow flowers totally cover the canopy of this deciduous tree making it a breathtaking sight.
The disadvantage of the tree is the long dark rounded seed pods that form in abundance following flowering.
There are several native species of cassia and C. Brewsteri which naturally grows from Gympie to Port Douglas is variable in height depending of soil type, mature specimens have been recorded growing from three to 20m in height. C Brewsteri flowers in early spring with racemes of yellow and orange flowers.
Cassia queenslandica is a small growing tree native to an area between Cooktown and Cairns and found mostly on rainforest margins. Its long cluster of yellow flowers turn orange as the weather warms in mid spring.
The much larger exotic Cassia nodosa has a wide spreading canopy which is semi deciduous in spring before its buds develop to cover the tree in dense clusters of rosy-pink flowers.
This large tree has a short trunk with low buttressed roots which can become problematic near pathways. Following flowering long brown cylindrical seed pods hang under the canopy and fall when they have matured.
The native Melicope elleryana, the pink euodia, flowers on its branches with dense clusters of rose-pink pompom flowers. This tree is the host plant for the Ulysses butterfly. The iridescent mountain blue butterfly feeds on the high protein nectar of the euodia blossom before laying her eggs on the tree’s leaves. When the caterpillars hatch, green with a series of spots, they feed and fatten on the leaves of the euodia tree before they crawl away to pupate on a nearby bush or tree.
If you’re look closely you might find a Ulysses butterfly emerging from its chrysalis on a warm summer morning.