- Here Come Australian Rainforest Trees Hugh and Nan Nicholson A new range of species is needed which combines the qualities of the exotic and tie familiar natives, For decades the Ausiralian nursery industry rode on she back of te inirodused plant. Before. the advent of Australian Fatives in gardens, most shrubs and trees tsed for omamental purposes fitted fairly prediciably into (wo broad categories. Fits the conifers and deciduous exotics from cool Northern Hemisphere climates and seconély the usually green evergreen exotics {rom warmer climates such as Soutn Alt ca, South America and Asia “Gardening in Australia, from the firs days of white. settlement, depended on Imports of foreign species. Until the 1960": Australian preferences. in. horticultural specimens faithfully. followed. European and American ideas. Garden plants larger than halt a mete were nearly elways compact In. shape, tidy ingrown abit, casily browbeaicn’'by pruning, regular in flowering and generally welltbchaved. ‘Of course, that was no accident. Most exotic. specimens had. spent yea's. Being eveloped, selected ard refined. Some have been in the process for centuries. ‘Their suitability, atiractiveness and adaptability for Austzian home garden conditions had two consequences: 1. “Australians believed that on the whole nly. non-Austealian plants. Tooked fight in-a garden 2. They ‘came {0 believe that exotic species were the only ones, which could grow in Australian gardens All this was partly due 10 Australia’s chronic “cultural cainge” or the belief that otning Australian could be really worth Taving. Favourable adjectives Used 0 describe garden specimens generally related {0 European standards of hort excellence, e.g, “handsome and “elegant”, Inkabiting the driest con- Uinent may have caused people to compen: sate by creating @ haven ‘of cool moist exotica but few city-dvelling Australians ‘ever go near the cry inland. Most likely, the long-standing Australian preference (07 on-Austvalian trees results from the orig fal imposition of European values added 1 the genuine excellence of most exotic plants which have gone through the proc- esses of selective Improvement In the 1960's popularity of Australian plants began to increase dramatically. The Hugh and Nen Nicholson (who appear in the ‘profiies” section of this Issue) own Tersnle Ercok “Nursery in New South Wales, wich specializes i rainforest plants Austral i Horticulture, April, 1983 Strargie the mrlet in Years emeing byt tok Plaher dedication of a few individual pioneers had a lot to do with it but the response from the gardening public indicated that they were ripe for a change for a variely of ‘Australian natives were novel. People were ready to try something different from the repetitive patterns of exotic gardening. Many of the plants were very beatt- tiful and of interesting shape even before the intensive development occurred to pro- duce outstanding plants. — People were interested in the concept of low-maintenance gardening which was often proffered as one of the main atui- utes of native plants, — Australians were becoming less self deprecatiag and more able 10 appreciate their native landscape and its plants. It could almost be called a horticultural com- ing-of-age. — Conservation became a factor 10 be taken seriously. Many people wanted ga dens, or at least some plants specifically to provide habita! for native birds. Gardens began to be planned on environmentally sensitve guidelines. Awareness. increased that much of Australia’s flora was at best unrecognised and at worst in danger. ~The combination of the previous rea sons produced a fashion trend for natives in gardens. This was encouraging in its momentum but at the same time risked the fickleness of fashions. In the last couple of years there has been a fall-oif in the popularity of native plants, possibly even amounting to a back-lash. The belief that natives will always do well with minimum care, which Is_as extreme as the previous view that natives ‘could not grow in Australian gardens, has fallen flat. Obviously enough the truth is somewhere between, Most are hardy but some are quite delicate and others need fairly specialised conditions. Some of the more striking plants do not relish the amounts of water and nutrients that keen ‘gardeners apply to their more prized plants. Many of the familiar sclerophyllous native plants, after the first few years of youthful beauty, become woody, stragely and generally ‘unimpressive, possibly because they naturally occur in’ conditions harsher and drier than most city gardens Better conditions often meant a shorter garden life. Also, overplanting, a common gardening habit, looks far worse in ¢ native garden than an’exotic one The problems being encountered are partly due to the rapid rise im popularity Which occurred without the beck-up of many years’ research and selection. for consistent performance and hardiness in varying conditions. Although selection for horticultural suitability is continuing, it has not been able to prevent a certain amount of disaffection with the well-known natives, Possibly, as with any trend, to use a positive term, or fad, to use ‘a negative Ore, a popularity loss is inevitable, Those with particularly shining qualities — Grev- illea Robyn Gordon is 2 classic example = will endure, and the, ried and true natives will be close behind, but the day of “IF it's native it’s good” ‘is past. Where next? H's time for Australian rain- forest tees ‘A gap has been created in the new arrivals department of the horticultural trade. For 2 public which has learnt to expect constant promotion of nev items, very few new plants are appearing. At 7present individual species from various quarters of the globe are found and/or developed and are promoted in isclation, This may make a quick dollar for the seller but it continues "to foster faddiness in buyers" habits, Fig. 1. Jagera pesudorbus, Femy foliage and golden mature fruit ‘of Jagera pseudorhis A new range of species is needed in Australia which combines maay or of the qualities of both the familiar exotics and the familiar natives. They need to. be Australian, partly. because of the ‘high Public awareness of the value of Australian plants, but also because litle else of interest '5 turning up from other parts of the world, They need to be more exotic in appearance than miost conventional natives 19 eater for the swing back to compact shape and broad leaves. But most importantly they must have innate advantages of their own as well as novel appearance Australian rainforest cree shrubs, herbs Fig. 2. Cinramomum oliveri Typical pale new prowth tips of Oliver's Sasifras, Australian Horticulture, April, 1983 1000, represent an enormous commercial resource which could inspire a. strong resurgence of Australian native plant grow ing. Many of our rainforest plants are out- standing already, some are potentially out Standing, some could be promoted now and somie need extensive research. There are enough rainforest plants in Australia from S.W. Tasmania to Cape York, (9 supply, the nursery industry for years with new, wide-ranging and exotic-looking native plants But why, if they are so exciting, are they so little known and so litle cultivated? The feason is the list of myths which class them as broadly unsuitable for Australian arden They are too large for normal gardens. This myth not only ignores all: those ground covers and. small and mediv plants which never top 1 metre, but it is making the ridiculous assumption that rainforest plants in the garden means hay- ing a full-blown cainforest there, Hundreds of well-known exotics which natarally grow lank’ and straggly become short and com- act when extracted from their native forest habitat, Similarly, in closed canopy Australian rainforest, intense competition for rootspace and lightspace produces sky-seeking growth habit quite unlike the dumpy urban shapes. Small-leafed Lilly- Pilly (Syeyeium Juchmani), familiar as an attractive, lightleafed shrub rarely more than S metres, grow to 30 plus metres in Terania Creek Basin, As rule of thumb, the expected size of a tree growing within rainforest can be reduced by two-thirds for ‘outside conditions. ‘They are too slow. Yes, a few are tortoises, but the hares, like Red Cedar (Toona australis) or Blue Fig (Elaeocarpus grandis), can do 3 metres year with litle effort, Most are in between, with moderate to rapid growth just like all those other rainforest plants taken from other parts of the world. Part of the impression of slow growth hhas come from the ability of many rain: Fig” 3. Maypulti alsa, ‘The unusual leaf form and small size make the Winged Tulip an ideal tb plane forest trees to wait indefinitely for a space to grow into. A closed canopy restricts active growth so severely that a small tree of 2 of 3 meues may be many years old. If a large tree falls, making a fift in the canopy, the underlings race for the light and the first there fills the space, dooming the losers to more years of waiting. In ‘open space or normal garden conditions this mechanism does not apply. So, the tall, slow-growing rainforest tree becomes a fast-growing tee which levels out at a much reduced height They are too delicate. Most Australians, certainly those on the east coast, have now either experienced fainforest ‘or seen it on television. Its internal conditions of humidity, lack of wind and relatively constant temperature look impossible to reproduce in a home garden. And the constant reminders in conservaiion disputes of the “fragile rain- forest ecosystem” reinforces the conviction that rainforest trees will die if you look at them sternly ‘OF course, the rainforest ecosystem is easily destroyed. As a whole working sys- tem, removal of somg elements, such as the larger trees, will have & disruptive and sometimes terminal effect on the rest However, no gardener is trying to set up a whole ecosystem in her/his. backyard. We do not attempt to recreate the perfect ecological riche for an avocado or alla- manda or any other foreign rainforest tree. Rather we provide conditions which it wil tolerate and which will make it behave as we would like, that is flower or fruit more heavily, grow more densely, and <0 on Rainforest plants as individuals have fe greater scope for withstanding tough con- ditions than a complete climax rainforest. Some of the better known trees such as Silky Oak (Grevillea robusta), White Cedar (Melia azedarach) and Flame Tree (Bra- ciychivon acerifolium) hare a very wide tolerance for unfavourable condtions. Oth. ers with similar properties will no doubt emerge in time Contrary to beliet, rainforest trees don't always require shade. Most of them in fact,prefer full sun on their crowns as long as their roots are fairly well shaded. All of those trees which reach the canopy (amd neaily all of them are-attempting 10 do thad) ave none of the supposed beneiits of growing within a rainforest — they have full sun, lower humidity and greater tem- perature changes, These same crowas on. a lower ue grown in the open, can Withstand the same privations. Rainforests, -ineluding-the—Australian ones, were the-original forest cover on-the planet: hey have spent millions of years adapting to and recovering from catastro: Dhies, Because of that, most rainforest plants are capable of dealing with condi- tions far leis appealing than the oplimal Some of the planis are specifically designed to tecolonize extensive arcas damaged by fire or cyclone or to heal large breaks in the canopy. These trees are neatly all very fast, wind tolerant, sun tolerant and, more often than not, very attractive, e., Brown Currajong (Commersonia bartramia), Yel: Tow Kamala (Mallotus discolor), Macar- anga (Macaranga tanarius), Red Ash (Alphuonia exceisa), Pink Asi (Alphitonia peti) and many others. They don’t flower well. That means simply that people are unfamiliar with the recs that de flower well, Flame Trees, Firewhes! Trees and Native Frangipanis are not the only rain: forest trees which produce flowers. Here are just a few others of equal but different Virtues: ‘Rose Apple (Syzygium moore), Queensland Waratah (Oreocallis_ wick: hami), Snow wood (Abarema sapindoides), Laceflower Tree (Abarema grandiflora Rose-leaf Marara (Caldcluvie paniculosa), Pittosporum Likemany rainforest ree, Piro Fhombifofurs i guite compact arden Australian Horticulture, April, 1983 Fig. 5. Hymenosporum flavum. Attractive, stonaly scented flowers and porum, Possumsood (Quintinia verdoni), Pink Euodea (Euodea elleryana), Cutsia (Cutt- sia viburnea), Spice Bush (Triunia youn: giae), Powder-Putl Lilly-Pilly (Eugenia wilson), White Beech (Gmeling leichard- ij), Silverleal (Callicoma sesracifolia), Brewster's Cassia (Cassie brewsteri), Ivory Curl Flower (Buckinghamia. celeissima), Yellow Pear-Fruit (Mischocarpus pyrifor- mis), Dorrigo Waratah (Oreocallis pinna- (a), Hollywood (Pittosporum thombifol- ium), and Maiden's Blush (Sloanea australis). Until recently, few people knew which rainforest tees had flowers of not these that were known were often hard to observe in their normal habitat; those that were observed were not often grown as garden Specimens: those grown in gardens were not selected and developed for favourable characier'stics. The result is the dearth of Knowledge abut flowering rainforest trees and shrubs. Flowers are commonly surpassed in dis- play by the fruit which follows them, Most Fruits are spread not by wind as are most other Austratian natives, but through birds. Accordingly they have to be attractive — large, often juicy, and always. brightly coloured. The list of common names reads like make-believe fruits in a children’s story: Red Apple, Black Apple, Purple Cheity, Blue Lily:Pilly, Red Olive-Plum, White Apple, Rose Apple, Pepperberry, Banana Bush, Red Bopplenut, Pear-fruit, Blue Fig, Plum Pine. OF course, the debunking of these myths won’t mean that there is a wonder rain forest tree which grows very fast t0 6 mettes then stays there, flowers spectacu- farly for nine months,’ grows well in all conditions with no attention and provides edible fruit, But, asa group, rainforest trees and shrubs have @ relatively high number of favourable attributes and some fof them will be excellent as specialists, fast growch explain the popularity of Hymencs €4., for indoors. A high proportion of them possess the basic appearance of a well-rounded, trim shrub or small 10 medium tee, Add to this individual char- acteristics sich as brilliant leaf colour several times a year, or heavy flowering or massed fruit, either edible or bird-attrac- tive, or striking leafshape and arrange ment No grup of plants can elzim, a complete lack of disadvantages, and rainforest plants are no exception. However, all the prod- lems relaie to a lack of! research. and selective development. Some species vary in the quality of the flower or fruit from year to year. Leaf-shape and tree-shape alco can vary considerably. Some trees are clearly quite unsuitable, being too slow, prickly, uninteresting, toxic or just ugly. Some species are 100 big or slow or tender. Research is needed in all these areas 10 determine how much genetics and environ- ment interplay and whether we can affect oth of these. A few more initiatives are nezded in simply planting rainforest trees in gardens to see how they shape up. Australia is ina unique position as a developed country possessing 4 reasonably extensive area of rainforest as well as the financial ability to explore ané develop its potential benefits. In N.S.W., now that most of our remaining rainforests fave ed, we will have a perennial ticultural direction, inspira tion, and for the hard-bitten, income. eas tas