Auranticarpa rhombifolia
Not all “rainforest" trees are the same. As a general rule, the wetter the rainforest type, the more likely its plants are to have evolved shallow root systems. Trees of typical rainforests are likely to be problematical if planted close to buildings, driveways, paths, and drains. Many of them are also too large to be suitable for suburban gardens.
“Dry Rainforest” plants are their drought-hardy relatives. Unlike the plants of wetter rainforests, they can’t count on getting regular rainfall. The secret of their survival in their drought-prone native habitats is their tendency to put down deep roots as fast as they can, to find water deep underground.
They tend to be smaller trees than their big rainforest relatives.
They also prune well.
These three habits make them very garden-friendly.
1. Their deep-rooting habit means that they don’t make much use of the upper layers of soil. They can be planted close together, and are happy to share the space in the upper layers of the soil where most small garden plants want their roots to be. They are also less likely to damage paths, driveways, house foundations, and to send their little roots into our pipes and sewers. (Yes, of course they will do damage if you tempt them by planting them right next to a leaky pipe, or place a large plant smack up against a brick wall. Use some commonsense here! Think low-risk, not no-risk. No-risk means a garden of concrete and plastic plants.)
2. Their smaller size means that we can grow nice shady trees which won’t outgrow our suburban-sized gardens.
Denhamia bilocularis 3. Their adaptability to shaping and pruning means that they make good hedges or dense shrubs if pruned to the size of your choice. Cutting them back hard encourages the formation of multiple trunks. They can also left (or encouraged) to grow as shady little single-trunked trees. Trim the lower branches a bit, and you have a spot for a bird bath or a garden seat.
Too many trees? No problem! Cut some off at the ankles and let them regrow as multi-trunked shrubs.
Notelaea microcarpa4. And their drought hardiness means that once established they will live a normal lifespan, possibly hundreds of years, without ever needing more rainfall than our erratic climate gives them. Like most plants, they appreciate extra water, especially in winter or dry times when their natural habit is to drop some of their leaves to conserve water. Watering keeps them dense and shady - but those who can’t manage the water can just wait it out. When the rains start, their canopies will thicken up again.
Some of our Local Dry Rainforest Trees:
Acmena smithii (Syzygium smithii) LILLYPILLY, COMMON
Acronychia laevis ACRYONYCHIA, GLOSSY
Alangium villosum MUSKHEART, BLACK
Alectryon diversifolius BOONAREE, SCRUB
Alectryon pubescens BOONAREE, HAIRY
Alectryon subcinereus BIRDS EYE, QUINCE LEAFED
Alectryon subdentatus BIRDS EYE, HOLLY LEAFED
Alectryon tomentosus BIRDS EYE, HAIRY
Alectryon tomentosus BIRDS EYE, HAIRY
Alectryon connatus BIRDS' EYE, COMMON
Alectryon oleifolium ROSEWOOD, WESTERN
Alphitonia excelsa ASH, SOAP
Alstonia constricta BITTERBARK
Aphananthe philippinensis ELM, NATIVE
Araucaria cunninghamii PINE, HOOP
Arytera distylis COOGERA, TWIN LEAFED
Arytera foveloata COOGERA, PITTED
Atalaya salicifolia WHITEWOOD, BRUSH
Atalaya salicifoliaAuranticarpa rhombifolia HOLLYWOOD, GOLDEN
Backhousia angustfolia MYRTLE, CURRY
Baloghia inophylla BLOODWOOD, BRUSH
Brachychiton acerifolius FLAME TREE
Brachychiton discolor LACEBARK
Brachychiton populneus KURRAJONG
Brachychiton rupestris BOTTLE TREE
Bridelia exaltata IRONBARK, BRUSH
Bridelia leichhardtii IRONBARK, LEICHHARDTS
Bursaria incana BURSARIA, FROSTY
Capparis arborea CAPER TREE, RAINFOREST
Capparis mitchellii CAPER TREE, MITCHELL'S
Casearia multinervosa CASEARIA
Castanospermum australe BEAN, BLACK
Citronella moorei CHURNWOOD
Citrus australis LIME, NATIVE ROUND
Claoxylon australe BRITTLEWOOD
Croton insularis CROTON, SILVER
Cryptocarya bidwillii LAUREL, YELLOW
Cryptocarya glaucescens JACKWOOD
Cryptocarya triplinervis var. pubens LAUREL, HAIRY BROWN
Cupaniopsis parvifolia TUCKEROO, SMALL LEAF
Denhamia bilocularis (Maytenus bilocularis) ORANGEBARK, HEDGE
Denhamia celastroides DENHAMIA, COMMON
Denhamia disperma (was Maytenus disperma) BOXWOOD, ORANGE
Denhamia pittosporoides DENHAMIA, VEINY
Dinosperma erythrococcum TINGLETONGUE
Diospyros australis EBONY, PLUM
Diospyros humilis EBONY, SMALL LEAFED
Diospyros humilisDiploglottis australis (Diploglottis cunninghamii) TAMARIND, NATIVE
Drypetes deplanchei TULIPWOOD, YELLOW
Dysoxylum fraserianum ROSEWOOD
Ehretia membranifolia KODA, THIN LEAFED
Ehretia acuminata KODA
Elaeocarpus obovatus QUANDONG, HARD
Elaeodendron australe var. integrifolium
OLIVE PLUM, RED FRUITED narrow-leafed
Elattostachys xylocarpa BEETROOT TREE, WHITE
Emmenosperma alphitoniodes ASH, YELLOW
Erythrina numerosa CORAL TREE, PINE MOUNTAIN
Euroschinus falcatus RIBBONWOOD
Everistia vaccinifolia EVERISTIA
Excoecaria dallachyana POISON TREE, SCRUB
Ficus rubiginosa FIG, SCRUB
Flindersia collina ASH, LEOPARD
Flindersia collinaGeijera parviflora WILGA
Geijera salicifolia WILGA, SCRUB
Guioa semiglauca GUIOA (Pronounced GHEE-OA)
Linospadix monostachya WALKING STICK PALM
Mallotus philippensis KAMALA, RED
Melicope micrococca DOUGHWOOD, WHITE
Myrsine variabilis (was Rapanea variabilis) MUTTONWOOD
Neolitsea dealbata BOLLYGUM, GREY
Notelaea microcarpa MOCK OLIVE, GORGE
Owenia acidula APPLE, EMU
Owenia venosa APPLE, ROSE
Petalostigma pubescens QUIININE TREE, HAIRY
Pittosporum angustifolium GUMBY GUMBY
Pittosporum undulatum PITTOSPORUM, SWEET
Planchonella cotinifolia (Pouteria cotinifolia)
CONDOO, SMALL LEAFED
Psydrax buxifolium CANTHIUM, BOX-LEAFED
Psydrax odoratum SWEET SUZIE
Rhodosphaera rhodanthema YELLOWWOOD, DEEP
Rhodosphaera rhodanthemaSiphonodon australe IVORYWOOD
Streblus pendulinus (Streblus brunonianus) WHALEBONE TREE
Vitex lignum- vitae SATINWOOD
Some of our Local Dry Rainforest shrubs
and Small Understorey Trees.
Alchornea ilicifolia DOVEWOOD, HOLLY
Alyxia ruscifolia CHAIN FRUIT
Bursaria spinosa BURSARIA, SWEET (Prickly. Good bird plant)
Carissa ovata KUNKERBERRY (Prickly. Good bird plant)
Clerodendron floribundum LOLLY BUSH
Clerodendron tomentosum LOLLY BUSH, HAIRY
Denhamia silvestris (Maytenus silvestris) ORANGEBARK, NARROW LEAFED
Dodonaea sinuolata HOPBUSH, THREADY-LEAFED
Dodonaea stenophylla HOPBUSH, STRINGY LEAFED
Dodonaea tenuifolia HOPBUSH, FERN-LEAFED
Dodonaea triangularis HOPBUSH, TRIANGLE LEAFED
Dodonaea triquetra HOPBUSH, FOREST
Dodonaea viscosa subsp angustifolia HOPBUSH, NARROW LEAFED
Homalanthus populifolius BLEEDING HEART
Myoporum montanum BOOBIALLA, MOUNTAIN
Notelaea linearis MOCK OLIVE, NARROW LEAFED
Pittosporum revolutum PITTOSPORUM, YELLOW
Pittosporum viscidum BIRDS NEST BUSH (Prickly. Good bird plant)
Psychotria daphnoides PSYCHOTRIA, HEDGE
Psychotria loniceroides PSYCHOTRIA, HAIRY
Santalum lanceolatum SANDALWOOD, NORTHERN
Santalum obtusifolium SANDALWOOD, SHRUB
Trema tomentosa PEACH, POISON
Turraea pubescens WITCH HAZEL, NATIVE
I enjoyed reading your advice, thank you Patricia, Richard
ReplyDeleteHi, amazing article - would you suggest that we should be replacing eucalyptus forests near urban towns with dry rainforests to act as fire breaks?
ReplyDeleteThe fires that swept through the South Coast of NSW in the 2019-2020 bushfires really was frightening to watch.
I can't help but wonder if those towns like Mogo and Nelligan used deciduous trees in gardens and replaced the native eucalyptus forest that surrounded these towns with dry rainforests if they would have fared better.
That's a very big question.
ReplyDeleteFirst, we need to consider to what extent we are prepared to let humans spread over the world, eliminating native plants and animals. We Australians have a tendency to spread ourselves out, when it comes to towns. A European town with the same population takes about a quarter of the space because they have building regulations which protect the countryside from human invasion. We do love to extend our suburbs, building a dream "home among the gumtrees" - until those trees catch fire. It seems a pity to blame it on the trees, and certainly a pity to deliberately exterminate all those native animal species, from the tiniest insects upwards, which depend on them. Eucalypt forests and woodlands are very species-rich. It would be a brave government, though, that told people they were not allowed to build homes on their outer suburban acreage estates.
Second, we would have to be sure that the environment would support a dry rainforest environment before trying to make a change. I have no idea what grows around Mogo or Nelligan, having never been to either place. What dry rainforest species already grow there? The idea of planting a a buffer of more fire-resistant trees is a good one, but it would need careful selection of plants to suit the environment. It can be possible to plant trees from different ecosystems, but they would have to be chosen carefully. It wouldn't work, to establish dry rainforests expecting them to need no aftercare, if the chosen trees turn out to have higher water needs or lower frost tolerance than the situation requires. Would the towns be prepared (or able) to maintain the buffer if it needs watering or frost protection on a permanent basis?
Thirdly, we need to ask whether it is our modern forest management practices that are a good part of the problem with Eucalypt forests. Forestry techniques sometimes seem to be ignoring their contribution to the fire problem, taking logs out of forests and leaving all the waste to dry on the forest floor, building up a huge fuel load. We might also not yet be using preventative burn-offs to the best effect. We are told that traditional Aboriginal fire management techniques, with regard to frequency and extent of the areas burned, prevented major runaway fires. No doubt there are people investigating this. Perhaps we just don't spend enough government money on best practice? There are also stories of government ministers interfering with the experts and ordering them not to burn because of complaints from voters about smoke.
Fourthly, of course there is the global warming thing. Throughout long-term time, changes in climate have meant changes in the ecosystem types any given area of land could support. Changes from forests to a more arid ecosystem type have probably always been accompanied by increased forest fire frequency until the forests eventually disappeared. The climate may eventually eliminate forest fires with no help from humans!
So yes, your question is a good one, but of easy answers there are none.
Trish