Have you ever seen a green flower?
This week one of the most beautiful flowers in the world is on display at the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens. Right next to Café 1928, the Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) is producing several sprays of its spectacular cascading flowers. These flowers are rare in cultivation in Australia. They are a highly unusual colour, unlike that of almost any other plant. Jade Vine is a native of the tropical forests of the Philippines, so in colder climates they can only be grown successfully in large glasshouses. It is considered an endangered species due to the destruction of its natural habitat and the decrease of its natural pollinators (bats). The vine in the Botanic Gardens does not produce seeds due to the absence of this pollinator. Horticulturalists in the Kew Gardens in England have used a technique to mimic the bats and have been successful in getting seeds to develop. If there is an enthusiastic volunteer in Bundaberg who would like try this, more Jade Vines could be produced!
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Below is a list of the rare fruit species which are growing in the plot in the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens.
While some of these are familiar to most people, many are virtually unknown to the general public as they are not suitable for mass production and transport. There is excellent information about most of them on the internet. One of them (Guabiju) is quite rare and is probably the only one growing in a public garden in Australia! Thank you to the members of the Hinkler Branch of Rare Fruit Australia for growing these plants and to Council’s Parks staff for maintaining the plot. Acerola Cherry (Malpighia glabra) Amla (Phyllanthus emblica) Black Mulberry “Ray’s choice” Black Sapote (Diospyros digyna) Bucupari (Garcinia braziliensis) Canistel (Pouteria campechiana) Common Fig (Ficus carica) Finger lime (Citrus australasica) Giant Lau Lau (Eugenia megacarpa) Grumichama (Eugenia dombeyi) Guabiju (Myrcianthes pungens) Imbe (Garcinia livingstonei) Jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora) Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) Kwai Muk (Artocarpus hypargyraeus) Longan (Dimocarpus longan) Loquat (Eriobotrya jabonica) Mango “Mahajanka” Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) Natal Plum (Carissa grandiflora) Panama Berry (Muntingia calabura) Peanut Butter Fruit (Bunchosia agenta) Pummello “Chan” Rainforest Plum (Eugenia candolliana) Red Shahoot Mulberry Sapodilla (Manilkara sapota) Solomon Island Terminalia Soursop (Annona muricata) Spanish Tamarind (Vengaria edulis) Star Apple (Chrysophyllum cainito) Wampee (Clausena lansium) White Shahtoot Mulberry Yellow Cherry Guava |
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Some highlights of the Gardens Archives
February 2021
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Friends of Bundaberg Botanic Gardens