Tree Trail - Australian Botanic Garden

Scientific name: Eucalyptus moluccana
Location: Dam

Grey box is one of the three dominant canopy trees of the Cumberland Plain Woodland. It can be spotted amongst other trees due its predominantly rough bark along the trunk and smooth upper branches.

The bark (nganda) and timber (wugan) from the Grey box is used by Aboriginal Australians for making boomerangs, coolamons, shields, woomeras, and canoes.

Scientific name: Typha orientalis
Location: Bridge over creek

Sometimes known as Bulrush, Cumbungi is a wetland plant commonly found on the edges of bodies of water and in boggy areas. Growing up to 4m high, they are an important species for protecting against stream bank erosion.

Cumbungi are a Traditional Aboriginal source of food. Their rhizomes can be roasted, new shoots can be eaten fresh, and young flower stems can be steamed. The leaves are also useful for weaving into baskets, hats and mats, and all parts of the plant can be used for thatching.

Scientific name: Eucalyptus crebra

Narrow leaved ironbark is one of the three dominant canopy trees of the Cumberland Plain Woodland. As suggested by its name, these beautiful trees have a distinctive bark that looks like iron. Feel the thickness of this bark. Use a finger to measure this thickness! From seed to sapling, these trees will take 20–30 years before they flower and have a life span of approximately 100–200 years!

Narrow leaved ironbark is an important source of nectar in honey industry, and its hard, strong timber is used in construction.

Scientific name: Einadia nutans

Narrow leaved ironbark is one of the three dominant canopy trees of the Cumberland Plain Woodland. As suggested by its name, these beautiful trees have a distinctive bark that looks like iron. Feel the thickness of this bark. Use a finger to measure this thickness! From seed to sapling, these trees will take 20–30 years before they flower and have a life span of approximately 100–200 years!

Narrow leaved ironbark is an important source of nectar in honey industry, and its hard, strong timber is used in construction.

Scientific name: Eucalyptus tereticornis

Growing up to 50 metres tall, this species is a critical overstorey component of the Cumberland Plain Woodland and is a vital food source for koalas. Unlike other tree species in this area, the Forest red gum has smooth streaky bark along its trunk.

The wood of the Forest red gum is used for fuel, charcoal, paper, poles, posts, and construction.

Scientific name: Bursaria spinosa

Spread all throughout the understorey of this forest is the Native blackthorn – a medium to large shrub growing up to 5m high. With plentiful small white flowers full of nectar, this species is an attractive food source for butterflies, moths, beetles and native bees from January to May.

The dense prickly foliage of the Native blackthorn provides a highly protective habitat for birds of the Woodland. Hoards of Pittosporum beetle can sometimes be found covering the blackthorn branches in a moving mass.

Scientific name: Dodonaea viscosa

This genus of plant is known as hop bush as they were used to make beer by early European settlers. This species has also been traditionally used by Aboriginal people to treat toothaches, cuts, and stingray stings. An extremely hardy species growing up to 4 metres tall, the Sticky hop bush is an important pioneer species used in the regeneration of degraded sites.

A standout feature of this plant is its brilliant colours! Don’t be fooled – these colourful parts are not flowers but in fact seed capsules. The flowers of the Sticky hop bush are actually inconspicuous with no petals at all!

Scientific name:Themada triandra

Kangaroo grass is one of the most recognisable members of the grass family in Australia, with its interestingly textured foliage and unique seed head shape. Kangaroo grass towers over most ground cover, growing up to 1.5 m tall! Its seeds form an important food source for birds in the Woodland.

Scientific name: Acacia parramattensis

The Parramatta wattle is a tall shrub species part of the pea family. Although a widespread species, the Parramatta wattle is native to the Sydney Basin, Blue Mountains, and surrounding regions of NSW. Examine the leaves of the Parramatta wattle. How does this leaf differ to those you have seen so far? The leaves of this wattle are bipinnate, which means ‘twice divided’. The leaf is divided into tiny leaflets (pinnules).

Scientific name: Olea euopaea subsp cuspidate

African olive is an aggressive woody weed that invades native bushland. The dense shade it produces, and the many leaves dropped by these weeds puts rare ground plants at risk, and removes important habitat for insects. A single individual can grow to 10 metres high, live to 100 years and produce 25,000 olives in a year!

The olives produced by these trees are inedible by humans, but readily consumed by birds who spread their seeds to other locations. Swing by the Australian PlantBank to learn about the African olive problem is being managed at the Australian Botanic Garden.