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#1 - Rainbow Lorikeet in a palm tree.
#2 - Singing Honeyeater in an African Tulip Tree
#3 - Same Singing Honeyeater in the African Tulip Tree. Interesting facts about that tree below.
African Tulip Stats & Facts
The African tulip is an exotic from tropical western Africa. It is well known for its very distinctive showy bright orange-red tulip-shaped flowers that cluster densely at the tips of its branches.
This tree flowers year-round, with a peak season in spring. It also grows long (15–20 centimetre) seed pods. These can disperse around 500 winged, papery seeds each before dropping.
This tree can grow to enormous heights (up to 25 metres) with a wide spreading crown, which is part of the problem, as it will crowd out native trees.
As its seeds are readily dispersed by wind from a great height and also by water along the waterways that it tends inhabit, it can be found in many areas where it is not wanted.
This includes agricultural land and rainforests in both tropical and subtropical parts of the state.
The impacts of this pest tree go further, however. When its abundant nectar ferments, it becomes toxic to native Australian bees and kills them. This can have a devastating effect on Australian native trees, as native bees play a critical role in pollinating them. The role of bees in our world is often not fully understood but it’s safe to say without them our world will slowly perish.
#2 - Singing Honeyeater in an African Tulip Tree
#3 - Same Singing Honeyeater in the African Tulip Tree. Interesting facts about that tree below.
African Tulip Stats & Facts
The African tulip is an exotic from tropical western Africa. It is well known for its very distinctive showy bright orange-red tulip-shaped flowers that cluster densely at the tips of its branches.
This tree flowers year-round, with a peak season in spring. It also grows long (15–20 centimetre) seed pods. These can disperse around 500 winged, papery seeds each before dropping.
This tree can grow to enormous heights (up to 25 metres) with a wide spreading crown, which is part of the problem, as it will crowd out native trees.
As its seeds are readily dispersed by wind from a great height and also by water along the waterways that it tends inhabit, it can be found in many areas where it is not wanted.
This includes agricultural land and rainforests in both tropical and subtropical parts of the state.
The impacts of this pest tree go further, however. When its abundant nectar ferments, it becomes toxic to native Australian bees and kills them. This can have a devastating effect on Australian native trees, as native bees play a critical role in pollinating them. The role of bees in our world is often not fully understood but it’s safe to say without them our world will slowly perish.
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