National Tree Day

Tomorrow is National Tree Day and I thought I'd post an old photo of a young me beside an old tree. This is me in 1980 standing beside "Grandis, The Tallest Tree In NSW". At the time the sign said it was 76.2 metres high but some now claim it to be 84.3 metres high... probably remeasured when another tree in the northern tablelands was found to measure 79.2 metres. I remember clearly being astounded at the size of the tree, which is difficult to capture in a photo. It is estimated to be about 400 years old. The tree is Eucalyptus grandis or Flooded Gum. I feel very much at home amongst the gum trees.

Native Fuchsia

Winter is the time Correas flower. They add cheerful colour to the bush and are a great food source for nectar feeding birds.

The Children's Bridge

A great place.

Wattles

Acacia spinescens is a really prickly shrub which provides protection for the birds from predators such as foxes.

Acacia paradoxa is also prickly but provides a haven of safety for wrens. This is quite a hardy and vigourous wattle. It occurs naturally in SA but has weed status in WA.

Acacia myrtlifolia has sprung into life after recent rain.

Bell-fruited Mallee

Dean Nicolle is a well known Eucalypt expert here in South Australia. He has extensively travelled Australia studying, collecting and photographing eucalypts in their natural environment and is owner/curator of Currency Creek Arboreum, a specialist eucalypt research centre south of Adelaide, where approximately 750 eucalypt species are in cultivation, including every species from South Australia.

The Arboretum is only open to select groups and Dean is very generous with his time. We are lucky enough to have him as patron of the Friends of Cox Scrub and had a great day at the Arboretum in 2006 when this photo was taken. We planned another day there last month but the day was washed out... no-one complained as the rain was so welcome.

This Eucalypt is a Western Australian beauty, and only grows to about 3 metres in height.

Cup Gum

King Spider Orchid