The enigmatic Cherry Ballart

The Cherry Ballart, or Wild Cherry, or Native Cherry, is an attractive common, endemic native tree found in the drier woodlands and forests throughout eastern Australia. It is a pyramid-shaped tree with drooping, cypress-like foliage.

Its leaves are reduced to tiny triangular scales, it is hemiparasitic, you almost need a microscope to see its flowers, and it is difficult to propagate.

Perhaps though, a clue to its more mysterious feature is in its genus scientific epithet, Exocarpos cupressiformis, where Exo = outside, carpos = fruit, (cupress = cypress, and formis = form or like). Thus, it is a cypress-like tree where the fruit – a nut containing the seed – is attached outside the fleshy, red or yellow ‘cherry’ – which is actually a swollen stalk.

Although the so-called leaves are green and the tree gains some nutrient like most trees, via photosynthesis, early in its life, the Cherry Ballart relies on parasitism of a nearby host tree for some of its resources. The modified roots invade the roots of its host – nearly always a eucalypt but sometimes an acacia or a casuarina.

Despite preferring to grow in shallow soils on the drier slopes, like many eucs, the Cherry Ballart is regarded as a long-lived species. Its relatively dense canopy often provides an ideal micro-climate for wildlife to enjoy. Raptors and owls can sometimes be seen roosting in their shady canopy (even koalas), and kangaroos will seek out their shade on hot days too.

The wood is frequently used for turning and historically was used for furniture, rifle stocks and tool handles.

The Cherry Ballart is an often overlooked, attractive, and fascinating small tree.

 

The bloomin' fics are ...

… blooming!

For many years in Drouin, the months of February and March have been known as ‘ficifolia time’.

The Princes Way avenue of ficifolias was planted by Drouin Primary School students as part of Arbor Day celebrations in 1936 and are heritage listed. These trees are well documented with an informative citation in the Shire’s significant trees register interactive map.

It is not hard to see why Corymbia ficifolia, or Red Flowering Gum, is one of the most widely cultivated eucalypts both in Australia and in many other countries: it is relatively long-lived, not too enormous, very shady, environmentally valuable, tolerant of a variety of conditions, and easy on the eye.

Although the Corymbia ficifolia only grows naturally in a tiny corner of southern WA, it is not a listed threatened species, probably because it is so widely cultivated. A ‘corymb’ is a flower cluster whose lower stalks are proportionally longer so that the flowers form a flat or slightly convex head, and ‘ficifolia’ means fig-like leaves.

The (in)famous Ferdinand von Mueller was first to describe the tree in 1860, and he named it Eucalyptus ficifolia. After much research and argument, in 1995, the species was listed as Corymbia ficifolia. Corymbia (100+ species) and Angophera (10+ species), are very closely related to Eucalyptus (700+ species), and all three are regarded as eucalypts.

A number of medium-sized (dwarf) cultivars of ficifolia have been developed recently, and there is now a ficifolia that will fit adequately the tiny gardens of today.

Now, if we can only get those powerlines underground!

Did it get hot where you were?

One feels for the residents of Walpeup and Hopetoun where the temperature almost reached 50°C on Tuesday 27^th January. All the science tells us that these events are increasing in severity and frequency.

The science also tells us what we can do about – so why aren’t we?

Cities and towns heat up faster because of their concrete, bitumen, and dark roofs. So much research has been done on this it even has its own name – the urban heat island effect.

The rapid urban sprawl we are have in West Gippsland is amplifying the urban heat we are experiencing. From the Baw Baw Shire forecast idcommunity demographicresources page - “The Baw Baw Shire population forecast for 2026 is 65,168, and is forecast to grow to 93,737 by 2046.” – so it ain’t going to get better very quickly.

The BBSC website climate change page makes interesting, if brief, reading.

Canopy is cool!

Our developments need more shade, starting with wider nature strips and bigger back yards that can take trees with a canopy. Planning could include the provision of urban shade forests or tiny forests accessible to the population. Green roofs (living plants) and green walls (vertical gardens) provide insulation, lower the ambient temperature and reduce runoff. Urban gardens and nature strips can be designed with water retention infrastructure – permeable footpaths, rain gardens, runoff swales, etc.

Time to get real about this stuff!