When planted in a garden and given a tiny bit of care they can be grown as beautiful feature trees or shrubs. Remember that in a controlled garden environment, plants are less affected by the elements than in the wild. They are protected from fires so their bark is never scarred, dead or mis-formed limbs are removed, drought stress can be alleviated with regular watering and insect pests can be controlled. You can even prune and shape them as you wish. All these things combined will result in a good-looking plant that still retains its Australian heritage – in other words, they scrub up alright.

Take for example Banksia Spinulosa – in the wild it’s usually obscured by tall grass but in the garden its fine foliage and large golden to red coloured flower spikes are very eye catching. There is also the Polar Gum (Eucalyptus platyphylla), which has a spectacular white trunked gum and unusually wide light green leaves. This tree has been used as a feature tree in the center of Yuruga Nursery’s car park. It may be a little large for most suburban gardens, but if you are fortunate enough to have the space, it is definitely worth planting.

Another diamond in the rough is the Grevillea glauca. You would have driven past it on the road between Kuranda and Mareeba without giving it a second look. Yet once grown in nursery conditions their stunning silver foliage stand out. Even hakeas, paperbarks, ironbarks and sedges can become handsome feature plants. And remember, because they are native North Queensland plants they are going to be tough and require much less attention than plants from down south. So don’t be put off by the way they look in the wild, because out there they’ve got a much tougher life than they will have in the comfort of your garden.

Happy gardening.

Marcus Achatz
Yuruga Nursery

(Published in Cairns City Life magazine, January 2008)

Here at Yuruga Nursery, we’ve been roaming Cape York Peninsula for over 25 years, collecting and recording the flora of this fantastic wilderness situated right on our doorstep.

Plants from the Cape make fantastic plants in gardens and landscapes, not only for their intrinsic beauty, but also because a large proportion of them are extremely tough and hardy in cultivation. This is no doubt due to the harsh climate to which they are adapted. Cape York Peninsula has a pronounced tropical monsoonal climate; in other words it is very hot and dry for about 9 months of the year, and then for 3 months it is very hot and wet. Plants have to be tough to survive (and thrive) in such extremes.

It’s common for people who have never travelled on the Cape to assume that the vegetation is dense tropical rainforest throughout, and to get a huge shock on their first visit when they find that they can drive virtually the whole way to Bamaga without seeing any rainforest at all! In fact, the main route up the centre of the Cape passes through open sclerophyll forest for pretty well the entire journey, with the only relief being the gallery rainforests along the creek and river crossings, and larger patches of scrub towards the Tip.

So, the traveller could easily form the view that the Cape is hot, dry and dusty, and that the flora is dull and boring. However, look more closely, take a few side tracks, and a whole world of amazing and phenomenal flora is revealed.

The Cape is actually home to a wide variety of plant habitats, from open sclerophyll forest to dense rainforest, from vast heathlands to fantastic wetlands, from windswept headlands to pristine wild rivers. The purpose of this article is to give you a glimpse into the huge diversity of flora on the Cape, and to give you an insight into where some of the plants that we sell in the nursery come from in the wild.

Eucalyptus phoenicea

Starting your journey through the Cape from the south, you haven’t got far to go before you pass through the territory of two of Queensland’s most fantastic eucalypts. The dry stony hills in the Palmer River area of the southern Peninsula are home to the Lemon Scented Ironbark (Eucalyptus staigeriana). Crush the leaves and experience the most amazing lemon scent – pure heaven! If you travel via Cooktown and the Battle Camp Road, you will pass through a lovely stand of the bright orange-flowered gum tree Scarlet Gum (Eucalyptus phoenicea). What a stunningly beautiful flower, and a great tree for tropical gardens.

The shady gallery rainforests along the creeks and rivers of the Cape are a welcome relief from the heat, and a great place to stop for a cuppa. Most Cape York watercourses are lined with beautiful paperbarks – usually Melaleuca leucadendra or the silver-leafed Melaleuca argentea. Chances are there’ll also be the Mango Pine (Barringtonia calyptrata) and its smaller cousin the Freshwater Mangrove (Barringtonia acutangula). A couple of Satinash species are very common along the watercourses of the Cape, particularly the Flaky Barked Satinash (Syzygium forte subsp potamophilum) and the River Cherry (Syzygium tierneyanum). You will also find the beautiful Weeping Tea Tree (Leptospermum madidum) with its lovely lime green foliage and smooth white sculptured trunk.

In bogs and soaks you will always find the Red Beech (Dillenia alata), the Native Lasiandra (Melastoma affine), the Swamp Satinash (Syzygium angophoroides), and various pandanus species (Screw Palms).

The open forests are dominated by various eucalypt species, one of the most prominent being Eucalyptus tetradonta. Here and there you will see the dark green Golden Bouquet Tree (Deplanchea tetraphylla) with its huge leaves and equally huge heads of bright yellow flowers. This spreading shady tree is known on the Cape as the ‘Wallaby Wireless Tree’ because wallabies are fond of the flowers and will often congregate under a flowering tree for a feed and the chance to catch up on the local wildlife gossip.

Banksia dentata

Dotted everywhere through the woodlands and heath country of the Cape are two signature plants: the Cape York Banksia (Banksia dentata), a small tree with twisted form and yellow banksia flowers, and Broad Leaved Paperbark (Melaleuca viridiflora), another small tree with papery bark and wonderful bottlebrush flowers which may be any shade from deep maroon, through delicate pastel pink, to salmon, cream, and even green. When you come across a patch of this beautiful melaleuca in flower, stop and go for a wander, and see how many different flower colours you can find.

The Golden Grevillea (Grevillea pteridifolia) is very common on the Cape, and a dominant plant in the heathlands is the Yellow Tea-Tree (Neofabricea myrtifolia), which makes a great shrub in your garden. You may find the Golden Penda (Xanthostemon chrysanthus) along some of the watercourses, but out on the windswept sand dunes of Temple Bay is the stunning (and very rare) Red Penda (Xanthostemon youngii) with its bright orange-red flowers.

Rainforests may be rare along the main road, but it’s worth the effort to take some roads less travelled. For instance, the road to Portland Roads passes through the rainforests of Iron Range, which is an absolute wonderland of lush tropical rainforest species. If you happen to be there at just the right time, the cascading new growth of the Cascading Bean (Maniltoa lenticellata) will literally take your breath away. Iron Range harbours a myriad of wonderful species including the Bamaga Satinash (Sygzium bamagense), the Fibrous Satinash (Syzygium fibrosum), the native Water Cherry (Syzygium aqueum), the delicate Syzygium puberulum, and just so much more. Two of these (Syzygium fibrosum and Syzygium aqueum) have delicious edible fruits which are making their mark in the emerging Bush Foods industry.

Gardenia scabrella

The flora of the Cape is so diverse and so fantastic that this article can only but scratch the surface. There’s just so many species that it’s impossible to do it justice, save to comment that many, many of the plants on our regular nursery stock list are from Cape York Peninsula since they make tough, hardy and very attractive plants in cultivation.

The final word, however, goes to two of our favourite Cape York plants, the Cape Plum (Flacourtia sp), and the Cape York gardenias. The Cape Plum is a simply gorgeous shrub, suitable for just about any situation. And the gardenias are just so beautiful! For instance, Gardenia scabrella is a neat, rounded shrub with beautiful large star-shaped white flowers, while its prostrate cousin Gardenia sp Glennie River is one of the very best groundcovers for tropical gardens. These hugely popular plants are just some of the hundreds of plant introductions made from Cape York Peninsula by Yuruga Nursery over the years.

The hills of the Herberton-Irvinebank area of north Queensland contain a wealth of fascinating and delightful native plants, from tall trees to small shrubs. Some are well-known and quite common, others are extremely rare. Take a drive from Herberton to Irvinebank one Sunday afternoon and explore for yourself.

As you drive through the area, the first thing that will strike you are the beautiful Lemon Scented Gum Trees Corymbia (Eucalyptus) citriodora*. Tall, straight and slender with lovely smooth white trunks and open crowns, these beautiful fast growing trees dominate the hillsides when they shed their old bark each year to reveal a fresh new skin of silky salmon pink. As you walk beneath these trees your feet will crush the leaf litter, releasing the fresh lemon oils into the air. Such a delight! No wonder Lemon Scented Gums are such a popular plant in cultivation.

Once you get your eye in, you’ll start to notice that there is a host of different species of gum trees in the area, from the huge to the quite small. You’ll drive past stately Blue Gums (Eucalyptus tereticornis) on the hillsides and river flats, and as you get closer to Irvinebank you’ll find yourself in Pumpkin Gum territory.

The Pumpkin Gum (Eucalyptus pachycalyx) is a stout, smooth-barked gum tree which is absolutely unmistakable when it sheds its old bark each year to reveal a magnificent bright orange-pink new trunk. At the right time of year this striking tree, which is classified as rare due to its limited distribution in the wild, dominates the landscape. The common name Pumpkin Gum derives from the bright orange blaze of freshly cut timber.

The well-known timber tree Gympie Messmate (Eucalyptus cloeziana) is common on the hillsides and is easily recognised by its smooth white branches and rough dark grey trunk. The shapely Yellow Jacket (Corymbia leichhardtii) is easy to pick by its striking and unusual yellow flaky bark. The small, twisted, Silver-Leafed Ironbark (Eucalyptus shirleyi) is also easy to identify by its large round silver-grey leaves, and its sprawling untidy form. A great contrast in the garden!

Corymbia rhodops

Some of the bloodwoods may appear quite non-descript, that is until they flower! The Range Bloodwood (Corymbia abergiana) is a small ordinary-looking tree, but it makes its mark when it bursts into huge heads of fluffy white flowers followed by large decorative gum-nut seed pods. The Red-Throated Bloodwood (Corymbia rhodops) is another ordinary-looking tree which, although common in the area, is actually officially classified as a rare species because of its limited distribution in the wild. But rarity is not its only claim to fame – the showy white flowers have a deep red throat which is quite remarkable in the eucalypt world.

You could get ‘plant indigestion’ from the gum trees alone, since this is only a small selection of the species in the area. But bring your eyes down from the tree-tops and marvel at some of the beautiful shrubs to be found here.

One of the most common and showiest shrubs is the Golden Toothbrush Grevillea (Grevillea pteridifolia). You can’t mistake it when it’s in flower with its bright orange, nectar-laden flowers contrasting with the wispy silvery foliage. This grevillea is a lovely (and fast-growing) garden plant, and guaranteed to bring the honeyeaters in screeching swarms, and it is also a parent of some of our favourite garden cultivars such as ‘Honey Gem’, ‘Kay Williams’ and ‘Sandra Gordon’.

This area is also home to a very rare Irvinebank Grevillea (Grevillea glossadenia). A lovely shapely bush with attractive green foliage and orange spider-type flowers amongst the leaves, this rare plant is found only in the Irvinebank area. It makes a great garden plant in its own right, and is also the parent of another of our favourite garden cultivars ‘Orange Marmalade’.

Acacia leptoloba

The Herberton-Irvinebank area is home to a variety of lovely wattles. One of the most prominent is Acacia leptoloba (aptly named Irvinebank Wattle), a large shrub which is easily recognised by its purplish new growth and bright white fluffy flowers. Also likely to grab your attention are two small wattles which grow in dense thickets only about half a metre high. The first, the Table-Top Wattle (Acacia nuperrima) is a small, neat, bright green shrub with a very attractive ‘table-top’ form, while the second, Acacia humifusa, has soft, furry, round, grey foliage.

Also down at ground level can be found the lovely Grevillea dryandri with its huge pink toothbrush-shaped grevillea flowers. This fantastic plant can be found in flower nearly all year, and if you look closely you may see an amazing thing – a tiny plant with only a handful of leaves can have a dozen or more huge flowers! This grevillea is often found growing alongside the White Paper Daisy (Helichrysum newcastlianum) and the dark red Blood Lily (Haemodorum coccineum).

There are lots and lots of other fantastic plants to be found by the enthusiast and plant lover, but above all else the area is famous in native plant circles for the Purple-Flowered Wattle (Acacia purpureapetala). Yes, this wattle really does have purple flowers, and it is found only in the hills of the Herberton-Irvinebank area. You’d think that with purple flowers it would be easy to spot, but it’s actually fairly hard to find because, firstly, it is a prostrate scrambler growing down at ground level amongst the rocks and tufts of grass, and secondly, it has greyish foliage which blends into its surrounds. The easiest place to start looking is in the Jumna Creek area. Once you’ve spotted the first one and got your eye in (that’s the hard part), you’ll start finding them in other places too. This purple-flowered wattle is an oddity in more ways than its unusual flower colour since, although the seeds germinate readily, it has defied all attempts to keep it alive in cultivation. Fortunately it appears to thrive on disturbed ground and so, while classified as rare because of its very limited distribution in the wild, is not under immediate threat.

Haemodorum coccineum

So, you can see why the Herberton-Irvinebank area is one of our favourite spots for a Sunday afternoon drive. There’s something for everyone – rare plants, unusual plants, plants with stunning flowers, trees with fantastic trunks …. just watch out or you’ll catch the bug and be hooked for life (and there’s no known cure!).

* Gum trees which fall into the ‘Bloodwood’ group are now considered sufficiently different from the rest of the eucalypts to be placed into a new genus Corymbia.

The focus of this article is for gardeners in tropical Australia.
However, the basic principles apply for throughout Australia
with minor modifications for local conditions.

The gum trees (eucalypts) are such a dominant aspect of the Australian landscape that it’s easy to think that most of the approximately 1000 species all look the same.

Take a closer look, though, and you’ll see an amazing array of shapes, sizes, leaves and flower colour. With over 30 different species of Eucalypt stocked here at Yuruga, there’s a gum tree of every shape and size, for every situation from home garden to timber plot.

Have you ever given any thought to the bark of gum trees? Look closely at their trunks and you’ll be surprised at the different colours and textures on offer. Some of the taller gums have beautiful silky smooth trunks. For instance, the Forest Red Gum Eucalyptus tereticornis is often called the Blue Gum because its lovely smooth trunk has a blue-grey hue. The Cadaghi Gum Eucalyptus torelliana sheds its old bark once a year to reveal a fantastic smooth green new trunk.

Eucalyptus platyphylla

The Lemon Scented Gum Eucalyptus citriodora also sheds its bark once a year to present a bright pink trunk to the world, while the Pumpkin Gum Eucalyptus pachycalyx (a very rare species from the Irvinebank area) has a smooth trunk which sheds each year to reveal a spectacular smooth salmon-orange new skin. And don’t overlook the common Poplar Gum Eucalyptus platyphylla with its spreading form – have you ever noticed the lovely salmon-coloured trunk each spring? The colours of these local tropical species really are magnificent.

The Moreton Bay Ash Eucalyptus tessellaris is a stately smooth-trunked tree with a neat, rough grey sock at the base, while our local equivalent of the central Australian Ghost Gum Eucalyptus dallachiana, also has a lovely smooth trunk. And of course, it’s hard to beat the gigantic Rose Gum (or Flooded Gum) Eucalyptus grandis with its smooth white trunk which sheds in long ribbons each year.

Most of the eucalypts mentioned above (and especially the Rose Gum) are a bit too large for home gardens and suburban yards. However, the Forest Red Gum, Lemon Scented Gum, and other species such as the Tallow-wood Eucalyptus microcorys, Red Mahogany Eucalyptus pellita and River Red Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis are famous for their timbers and are planted extensively in timber plantations both in Australia and overseas.

Eucalyptus phoenicea

Many gum trees, of course, have fairly non-descript rough grey bark, but some rough-barked gums have quite fantastic trunks. Take the ‘Yellow Jackets’ for instance, which quite literally have yellow ‘jackets’. There are a number of species that fall into this category (for instance Eucalyptus leichhardtii and Eucalyptus peltata) both of which have bright orange flaky bark, and they make quite an unusual addition to the garden.

Most eucalypts of tropical Queensland have white flowers, but two species bear masses of orange flowers which are quite spectacular – the Woolly Butt Eucalyptus miniata and the Scarlet Gum Eucalyptus phoenicea.

Eucalyptus ptychocarpa

Contrary to popular belief, not all gums trees are large. The Northern Peppermint Eucalyptus exserta, the Swamp Bloodwood Eucalyptus ptychocarpa, the Rough-leaved Bloodwood Eucalyptus setosa, the Range Bloodwood Eucalyptus abergiana and the Dwarf Silver Gum Eucalyptus shirleyii are small enough to be comfortably grown in an average suburban back yard.

To further entice you to try these lovely plants, the Swamp Bloodwood bears large heads of very showy pink flowers, the Range Bloodwood bears very large heads of white flowers (which have been known to win a prize at the Atherton Show in years past), while the Dwarf Silver Gum has large rounded silvery leaves that lend themselves to use as cut foliage.

And for the most amazing smell sensation, crush a leaf of the Lemon Scented Ironbark Eucalyptus staigeriana – the lemon scent is absolutely fantastic!

2009 update: The Bloodwoods have now been re-named ‘Corymbia’. Hence Eucalypts: torelliana, citriodora, tessellaris, dallachiana, leichhardtii, peltata, ptychocarpa, setosa, abergiana are all now Corymbias. Also Eucalyptus miniata has had a name change to Eucalyptus chartaboma.

There is something particularly beautiful about deciduous plants.

When they drop all their leaves and expose their bare skeletons to the world, they present an architectural grandeur that adds quite another dimension to the landscape.

In the tropics where it is basically warm all year round, deciduous trees mark the passage of the year. It’s definitely November when the Flame Trees throw off all their old leaves and litter the ground beneath with a thick layer of mulch, lying ready to decompose and recycle once the rains begin.

Who can begrudge the litter when the reward is a spectacle of architectural brilliance and fiery colour?
Soon the storms will come, and then the long awaited wet season ….

Brachychiton acerifolius

Flame Tree (Brachychiton acerifolius)
The Flame Tree is very familiar to most of us, since it is a native of our local north Queensland rainforests. It is actually very widespread in the wild, occurring in rainforests from Iron Range on Cape York Peninsula right down to the Wollongong region south of Sydney (where it is known as the Illawarra Flame Tree for obvious reasons).
The Flame Tree is hardy and easy to grow. It has large lobed leaves resembling maple leaves (hence the ‘acer-i-folius’ species name), and it usually flowers within a couple of years of planting.

The Flame Tree is a fantastic spectacle in flower since it drops every leaf and produces masses of brilliant red flowers. At this time of year you can’t miss them in gardens and dotted across the rainforest canopy throughout the region.

Melia azedarach

White Cedar (Melia azedarach)
The White Cedar is a very hardy and fast growing tree from low to medium rainfall rainforests right across tropical Australia.
It drops all its leaves in about June, and then produces masses of lovely purple/white flowers at the same time as it puts on its fresh coat of soft green new foliage. The flowers are an absolute delight amongst the fresh green leaves, and have a lovely scent.

The White Cedar is well known is forestry circles for its lovely timber. In cultivation it is extremely hardy, and grows into a superb shade tree even in very arid areas such as Alice Springs.

Eucalyptus platyphylla

Poplar Gum (Eucalyptus platyphylla)
The Poplar Gum is a well-known eucalypt of tropical Queensland. It is easy to identify by its open sprawling habit, large round leaves (like a poplar) and smooth white trunk.
The Poplar Gum is a very common tree of open forests in Eastern Queensland from about Rockhampton northwards. The old bark is shed each year to reveal a new trunk of the most exquisite salmon-pink, eventually hardening off to the familiar smooth white trunk.

This eucalypt is usually known as the Poplar Gum because of its unusual round leaves, but it is also sometimes referred to as the Ghost Gum because of its beautiful trunk, although it is not the same Ghost Gum as the famous trees of central Australia.

Unusual amongst the gum trees, this eucalypt is deciduous, shedding its leaves when it flowers. In a wet year it may only shed a few leaves, but in a particularly dry year it will drop the entire canopy. The bare branches bear masses and masses of fluffy white flowers which make a truly spectacular sight against a brilliant blue sky.