by admin | May 3, 2019 | Flora, Gardening
With Spencer Shaw
Large lush deep green leaves of Cunjevoi add a tropical twist to the landscape and this particular plant fits into this category. Our largest local member of the Arum Family ARACEAE, this fleshy herb grows to between one and one and a half metres high on the Sunshine Coast, with large leaves up to half a metre long. Being this big and lush requires plenty of moisture and if not shade then certainly protection from wind and its drying effects, hence it is often found along slow moving creeks, shady wetlands and generally in rainforests.
There’s a story about that I often see referred to, that traditional Indigenous medicine advocates it as a cure for Stinging Tree Dendrocnide spp stings, however this may be ok if you are a skilled practitioner of Indigenous medicine (but most of us aren’t) and the sap can be very irritating on its own – may just take the edge of the Stinging Tree by causing its own inflammation! I’ve witnessed a very severe reaction to the sap from the leaves on a fellow Bush Regenerator and after witnessing that experience, give me Stinging Tree any day! Do not put any raw part of the plant in your mouth as it contains potent irritants that can cause swelling of your throat – not good.
Now you’re all scared and taking a wide berth of Cunjevoi in the bush – just in case it attacks you, let’s focus on the positive. The tall white / cream / green arum flowers are very nicely perfumed to us and are insect attracting and pollinated. The flowers are followed by clustered bright red fruit, which given everything else I’ve said about this plant – do not eat them, just for the birds! They are a great plant for boggy shady areas, one of the few local plants that really thrive in these conditions.
Cunjevoi’s heart shaped leaves will always have a special place in my heart, and are an essential part of the understorey in the very moist sections of rainforests.
by admin | Feb 26, 2019 | Flora, Gardening
With Spencer Shaw
Bleeding Heart Homalanthus populifolius
Sometimes a plant can be so common in your field of view that it’s easy to miss its significance and importance to ecosystems, it can so much a part of the landscape and so self sustaining that it can be forgotten in favour of all the rare and threatened plants and those things that are hard to grow, and so it is with your common run of the mill Homalanthus populifolius!
Homalanthus populifolius syn: Homalanthus nutans, Omalanthus populifolius has had a few name changes over the last few decades (just to keep us on our toes) and is a member of the Euphorbiaceae family, a very large Family of plants spread across the globe. It is dioecious – separate male and female plants.
This species is one of those ridiculously fast growing plants that kicks starts ecosystem change by colonising open ground, wether that be an opening in the forest, along roadsides, disturbed edges (and at our place just about anywhere and everywhere). Favoured germination conditions are open ground with high light levels and reasonable moisture holding capacity in the soil. From seedling to mature and fruiting could be as little as 18-24 months. In open conditions they become a small tree up to 5-7 metres, but I have seen a few spectacular specimens topping 10 metres in lowland rainforest.
As for kick starting ecosystem change, within 24 months you can have a deep leaf litter providing shelter and habitat for macro invertebrates and all those critters that eat them; they are a tree that is often as wide as tall, providing shade and humidity for secondary rainforest plants to recruit; the fruit of Homalanthus populifolius is highly sort after by birds (particularly the Brown Cuckoo Dove Macropygia amboinensis on our property), who readily spread seed.
I love Homalanthus, it’s hard to imagine a rainforest planting being successful without them. They are our ultimate rainforest pioneer species and well worth planting – that is if they aren’t popping up by themselves!
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