Brigalows & Bindis

When talk of the coming paradise and the prospect of having a limitless amount of time to spend learning new things arises, a point about plants is often mentioned, namely that ‘we’ll be able to learn the names of all of the different kinds of trees there are.’ This comment is often followed by an exclamation point. But to be honest, identifying tree species has never been high on my list of things to do before I die. (unlike ‘seeing a Great White from a shark cage’ or ‘being knighted’). Perhaps it’s because furniture and other wooden items are ready for purchase in any store and so I’ve never had any need to know which tree is which; I don’t need to know which one I can make a table out of or which one I can chew on to soothe a headache. I realize that trees are vitally important to life on Earth and I love a good climb on one, but I suppose I really do just take them for granted most of the time.

Far more important to me, I later discovered, was learning to identify what might be growing on a tree trunk before digging my hands in to start climbing. This I learned the hard way many years ago when I climbed a pine tree that must’ve had poison oak growing on it. By the following day, one side of my face was completely swollen. However, muddying things a bit with regard to positively identifying the actual source of my facial swelling, was the fact that I had also eaten sautéed puffballs the day before in science class. Puffballs are a fungi and a variant of mushroom that at maturity can be stepped on launch spores into the air, but while immature are edible. The down side of all of this was that I ended up missing a day of school, but the upside was that I got to see Danny Kaye in 1955’s The Court Jester, and it remains one of my favorite musicals to this day.

So yes, trees and plants bore me. As far as plant life here in Australia goes however, I have been fascinated by all of it since my arrival last year.

As mentioned previously, the Jasmine bushes and the Blue Jacaranda trees made an immediate and lasting impression.  Though native to South America, the Jacaranda tree can today be found in several other countries including the US, mainly because of the mesmerizing allure of their beautiful-violet, bell-shaped flowers. They are an invasive species in Australia, as so many things are, but they have become an icon in several cities including Brisbane, where they are known as the ‘purple panic’ due to their tendency to bloom in late spring just as many students are finishing assignments and cramming for final exams.

Another invasive species is the prickly pear. Along with Texas long horns, this cactus was originally brought from the US. Among other things, it was hoped that these cacti could act as natural fences, but they soon overran the countryside, killing native plant species and proving nearly impossible to kill. As a solution, the South American Cactus Moth was introduced. Unlike the Cane toad debacle, where the new species meant to deal with the problem became it’s own insurmountable problem, the introduction of the Cactus Moth proved astoundingly successful in dealing with the prickly pears. They can still be seen around hear and there, but they are not longer the dire problem they were.

I saw Fig trees were everywhere in Sydney, but not so many here in Monto. Gum trees , on the other hand are quite plentiful. They are all known as ‘gums’ because of the thick sap that seeps out when the tree sustains damage. Gums are one of many trees here that actually benefit from the occasional fire for purposes of germination and regeneration. Not only can they be seen all over the landscape, but they are also prevalent in the culture. As you’ll recall ‘the old gum tree’ is where the kookaburra sits, one of Australia’s favorite singing sons named John Williamson has a beloved popular song called ‘Home Among the Gum Trees’, and Audrey Auld’s song ‘Paint You a Picture’ contains the line ‘The grey gum there beside me when I’m standing all alone’. Gums are in the eucalypt family, so their leaves are generally the preferred snack of Eucalyptus loving koalas. And since the oil from the leaves is often used in lozenges and medicines because of its cooling, soothing vapor, one must assume that few of these animals suffer from sore throats.

Ironbark trees are in great abundance as well, and their name should tell you a lot about their durability and toughness. Even the power saw at the house needs to take its time with Ironbark. It’s denseness makes it excellent for building as well as burning, since a hunk of the stuff burns for quite some time. I’ll try to bring a small sample back through customs!!

An utterly bizarre species are the Boab , or Baobab, trees. The only one I actually saw was at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney. They look a bit like something out of a spooky fairy tale. The most well known one is the ‘Prison Tree’ in Derby, which was rumored to have been used as a holding cell for prisoners in transit decades ago, though there is no actual proof it was ever utilized in that capacity. Even so, the trunk is certainly large enough to have fit a handful of people comfortably and to serve as a shelter from the elements if needed. These trees are truly odd things, but to the native people they held a great significance and each was understood to have its own unique character and personality. To look at one is to understand why.

Another common tree is the Brigalow, known for it’s black bark and long, arched, silver leaves. Cania Gorge, as well as Monto itself, is located in an area known as the Brigalow Belt. Brigalow trees once dominated the landscape in Queensland, but now they are an embattled and threatened species. This is more serious than many people seem to realize as the Brigalow forests themselves are exclusively the habitat of many unique animals that can’t survive without them. Thanks to decades of aggressive wood clearing for agriculture and mining, and precious little being done to protect them in the here and now, the remaining Brigelow population continues to dwindle. Today only 1% of their remaining habitat is protected, which sadly means that the continued existence of this unique ecosystem is very much in doubt.

As was horrifyingly underscored by the loss of animal life in bush fires this year, Australia is a land whose singular species and endemic vegetation is in the process of steadily vanishing as a result of mankind’s irresponsibility, negligence, and gross mismanagement. I can only imagine the joy the Brothers and Sisters will have in restoring this singular island continent to paradise conditions again in the near future.

But while the Brigalows here may be a worry, the Bottle trees are in absolutely no danger of vanishing. They can be found almost everywhere around here. The Bottle tree gets its name from the unique shape of its trunk which is often very fat at the bottom. This is the result of fibrous material inside the truck which can store a great deal of water over time. For this reason they can withstand long droughts and because of their water storage capacity, they are actually considered succulents.

Finally, there is the Poinciana. Though sometimes nicknamed ‘flame trees’, they are not the same as the actual Flame Trees from which the song by the group Cold Chisel gets its title. My only context for the Poinciana was a song I actually never liked very much. The tune may possibly have been borrowed from a Cuban folk song called ‘The Song of the Tree’ , but the English lyrics are essentially about nothing and repeated over and over. Originally found only in Madagascar, the actual, real life tree can now be found in many countries. Primarily found in coastal rain forests up the East coast of Australia, they are quite beautiful with their bright red flowers and long, seed-containing pods. In fact, as I think about it, that last sentence may have just solved a long forgotten mystery. In my childhood my mother had a a long, dry pod that must’ve been about nine inches or so long with large seeds inside, and resembled a large, dried-out, mahogany colored, green bean. Bam! Poinciana. Mystery solved. I can now confidently let me eight year old self know that it was not, in fact, a ‘body snatcher’ pod after all.

I have much less to say about the many flowering plants here, except that they are exotic, colorful, and fascinating. The butterflies and bees seem to love the Sheena’s Gold bushes next to the house, and various succulents and other hearty plants can be found scattered around the property. Many of the flowers pictured have yet to be positively identified, so only some are named.

The less said about the bindis the better, as they (along with the mozzies) are the only truly unpleasant things I’ve encountered here!  When the Craigs lived here, they regularly sprayed for them and so the yard was safe to tread without shoes, but now that the weeds aren’t being fought off, they are almost everywhere and bare feet are no longer an option. My Magpie friend, Check, once spent almost two weeks pathetically limping around and being unable to put any weight on one foot. He likely landed on a bindi and it got embedded. The pesky little, needle sharp seeds are practically impossible to keep out of the house because they latch on to anything that they touch, (shoes, socks, gloves, clothing, hair, fur) and this spells trouble for bare feet in the summer. Sometimes they’ll lie harmlessly on their sides in a patch of rug for weeks before one day deciding to upend themselves and wait for someone to impale themselves. Like the mozzies, they are omnipresent and unavoidable. But both are still in spots two and three behind cockroaches as ‘most hated creature’.

But green things wouldn’t grow if not for the rain, so perhaps we’ll discuss its alternating problematic abundance and problematic absence next.

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