Like all living creatures, trees have to reproduce so that their species survives. In the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens recently, this reproductive effort was easily seen with flowers of several interesting trees being pollinated and turning into fruit. Near the wetland at the Woodworkers area is a small tree called Lepiderema punctulata (Dotted Tuckeroo). This week it was loaded with small orange fruit, splitting open to reveal the seeds. There is a specimen of this tree growing in Millenium Park, Childers, near the Post Office. The common name refers to the small translucent dots which can be seen when holding up the leaflets to a strong light. It is found in the wild near Eurimbula, north of Bundaberg, but mainly north of Mackay. Nearby is a tree with spectacular pink to purple coloured flowers. It's called Lagerstroemia archeriana, commonly named Queensland Crepe Myrtle. It is a native tree found in the northern parts of Australia, but is now in cultivation. It is related to the introduced Crepe Myrtle Lagerstroemia indica which has different coloured and denser flowers. Right next to the road and south of the rainforest is a large, white barked tree called Archidendropsis thozetiana, commonly called Southern Siris. This species grows in the dry rainforests of Queensland. At the moment it is producing circular orange-yellow coloured flowers, and these will develop into a pod. It is very unusual to see this tree in cultivation, but it deserves to be grown more widely. In a dry rainforest near Biggenden, several of these trees dominate the canopy. Near the Young St entrance to the Gardens is a native fig tree called Ficus drupacea. It is a strangling fig and is native to North Queensland and overseas. The fruits are a dark red colour, with tiny white dots. These four trees will be ideal for Council's program to install identification labels.
A tree which is already labelled is next to the Historical Museum. The large yellow fruit are falling on the ground right now. This large shady tree from Asia is called Gmelina arborea, commonly named Beechwood. It is fast growing, tolerates drought and produces fine timber. According to a reference on the internet, the 180 year old Lion Throne, the most important and last surviving of the eight royal thrones of Myanmar, is carved from Gmelina arborea wood. Bundaberg is really quite lucky to have a 35 year old botanic gardens with such a great selection of plants from Australian and overseas. It is credit to the Council staff and previous curators who have sourced and cared for these trees, and wonderful to see some reproduction on display.
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The Chinese Gardens were a gift to Bundaberg from our sister city of Nanning, and are very popular with visitors to the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens. Have you ever wondered what the symbols on the bridge in the Chinese Gardens refer to? Or what the significance of the bells are? The Council has produced a video in which Bundaberg resident Enya Xu takes us on an informative tour explaining the key elements of this special Garden. Click on the photo to enjoy the video.
Did you know that the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens has a forest of timber trees planted by the Bundaberg Woodworkers Guild?
They were planted in the late 1980s and some have grown into large trees. The small forest is in the eastern section of the Gardens. There are several large Hoop Pines, a Red Cedar and a Bunya Pine, which are well known timber trees. There are also trees which are lesser known such as Silver Ash (Flindersia schottiana), Python Tree (Gossia bidwillii) and Silver Quandong (Elaeocarpus grandis). Some rainforest timbers are extremely valuable, mainly due to their scarcity, and many are highly prized. For example Silver Quandong is one of the preferred timbers to be used for solid body electric guitars, as the timber is extremely stable and easy to use, with a long straight grain. The Council has just produced a new video about the Woodworkers Forest. Timber harvesting was Bundaberg’s first industry, well before sugar cane was grown. The Waterloo sawmill was on the northern bank of the Burnett River, only a few kilometres from the location of the current Botanic Gardens, and would have processed the rainforest trees which grew around the new settlement of Bundaberg. So the forest is a link to Bundaberg's interesting history. Members of the Woodworkers Guild are interested in appreciating the living trees before they are turned into beautiful timber products. The trees planted in the Botanic Gardens will not be harvested unless they die naturally. The forest is well worth exploring when you next visit the Gardens. Council is planning to put more identification labels on the trees, helping us all to learn. Bundaberg based ecologist Carly Sugars is the star of a new video about rainforest in the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens. The rainforest in the Gardens is a lovely place to escape the hot dry weather.
In the Council's video, Carly explains the kinds of plants and animals which can be found in rainforest, and the different kinds of rainforest which are found around Bundaberg. Well done Carly! Thanks for spreading the message about the importance of rainforest. While some of us are struggling with the hot dry weather conditions the native Black Bean (Castanospermum australe) is thriving in the full sun and has spectacular sprays of pale red yellow flowers. There are several in the Gardens including in the Friendship Grove behind the railway shed. The Gardens are full of colour from our stunning iridescent purple Jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia) which you can find near the Chinese Gardens and Railway shed, to the Crown of Gold (Barkyla syringifolia) which is a shower of warm yellow behind the rainforest next to the Gardens and hockey field fence line. The Cassowary pine (Barringtonia calyptrata) is worth a visit. This species is from North Queensland and New Guinea and deserves to be used more often in cultivation, especially in parklands. It has 30 cm long, cream coloured flowers spikes, 30 - 40 mm wide, cream coloured and lorrikeets from ground to 3 m. Also called Mango pine. You can find it behind Hinkler Hall of Aviation next to the lake. Many of us know the frangipanis from the Pacific and Americas however we also have our own native frangipani (Hymenosporum flavum) cultivated around the world for its sweet perfume and prettiness. The native species yellow flowers are much smaller but the perfume is equally as strong as the exotic cultivars. Spot the one in front of Hinkler Hall of Aviation on the Mt Perry Road side. The Hinkler gardens are awash with Gaura, commonly known as Butterfly bush (Gaura lindheimeri) as the multitude of white flowers swaying in the breeze look like butterflies flitting about, you can find these right behind the café and Hinkler house in the Hinkler Gardens. Native gardenias (Randia fitzalanii) are dotted throughout the Gardens including near the café, rainforest and Fairymead House. These beautiful native rainforest trees have highly perfumed white tubular flowers produced on the stems. By Ray Johnson
The next time you are visiting the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens be sure to pick up a copy of the new brochure. It’s only 8 by 11cms when folded up and easily stored in a normal sized pocket or purse. It opens up similar to a road map the main difference being this one is easy to close again! The brochure highlights sixteen plant areas each with its own theme giving the visitor a greater appreciation of the layout and what they might expect to see featured in each area. While the brochure does identify various points of non-botanical interest like the Hinkler Hall of Aviation, or Hinkler House, the main purpose of the publication is to draw the visitor’s attention to the botanical nature of the Gardens. This is of course the main reason why such places exist. Congratulations to the Bundaberg Regional Council in recognising the need, and providing the funds to produce this timely and informative brochure. The Bundaberg Regional Council has created a new video about our Botanic Gardens. It can be seen on YouTube
The short video is about the Isis Tamarind, one of the rarest trees in the world and only found in the Bundaberg area. There are three of them growing in our Gardens. According to the Council, this is the first video of a series that they will make about plants found in the Gardens. Well done to Cody and the Council - we look forward to seeing more! You can see the video here: https://youtu.be/FRiDmSPIFgc The curator of the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens Cody Johnson has been busy finding out how other gardens work. Late in June, the curator of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Dale Arvidsson visited Bundaberg and spent time with Cody, swapping notes on a range of topics. Dale is originally from Bundaberg and also managed the Mackay Botanic Gardens. Further information is here. Last week Cody toured the Tondoon Botanic Gardens in Gladstone and met with their staff. They took a photo and put in on their Facebook page. Bundaberg is part of a network called the BGANZ - Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand, where botanic gardens share information, knowledge and resources, and help with promotion, marketing and volunteer/Friends groups coordination. The main purpose of botanical gardens across the world is to display and preserve living plants. Of course, when you plant trees, habitats are created for animals, birds, insects and other wildlife. Yesterday one of our members took some photos of birds in the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens. Brush Wattlebirds, a large species of honeyeater were attracted to flowering Grevilleas. Welcome Swallows were using a star picket in the water as a handy perch, watching for insects flying around. Wood Ducks, Black Ducks, Plumed Whistling Ducks and Dusky Moorhens were inspecting the mud near the lagoons for algae and other plant material. Darters were sitting on exposed branches to dry their wings (how important are those dead trees!). Pelicans were hunting for fish. Plants are very interesting, but we are lucky to see the wildlife too. Ray Johnson, the convenor of our Group reports that two native tree species in the Gardens are bearing fruit at the moment.
Davidson's plum (Davidsonia pruriens), produces edible, burgundy coloured fruit in large clusters. The fruit is sour and is great for making jam, sauces, cordial and wine. It is high in antioxidants. Syzygium alliiligneum (Onionwood), is native to North Queensland and produces bright red fruits. They are edible but not pleasant to taste (to some people). They are favoured by Cassowaries. There is a tree close to Fairymead House. |
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Some highlights of the Gardens Archives
February 2021
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Friends of Bundaberg Botanic Gardens