The Queensland Bottle Tree (Brachychiton rupestris), $1.40, named for its distinctive swollen trunk, grows in Queensland’s Burnett region. At 23 metres tall and 9.5 metres in circumference, it is a particularly large example of its species, which is endemic to central Queensland and northern New South Wales.
The beautiful, graceful Lemon-scented Gum (Corymbia citriodora), 70c, from near Tocumwal, New South Wales, is around 130 years old. The species is endemic to the temperate and tropical north of eastern Australia.
The gnarled Moonah (Melaleuca lanceolata), $2.10, one of 140 species of melaleuca found in southern Australia, has been growing in sandy soil on Victoria’s Churchill Island for over 350 years.
The enormous Green Fig or Strangler Fig (Ficus virens), $2.10, on Queensland’s Atherton Tableland is around 500 years old and has a canopy that extends over an extraordinary 2,000 square metres. This epiphytic fig started life as a seed deposited high in a host tree, and after germination sent out long cable-like roots to the ground, eventually killing the host tree by depriving it of nutrients and light.
Issue Date:17 March 2015
