Unusual trees in Australia
I've taken hundreds of photos of trees for the simple reason that I like them. Some of the more unusual or beautiful ones are on this page. I've also put a page of some really big Australian trees online here.

 

Street tree, Sydney
You want to be careful driving down the centre of this road. I suppose this is what happens if you leave a hole in the road for long enough.

Figs
Australia has some amazing fig trees. Some of the most bizarre are the strangler figs.

Strangler figs have an unusual life because they start out growing on another tree. It works like this: A bird eats some fruit from a mature fig and then flies off to sit in the branch of another tree. When the bird leaves some droppings on the branch the fig seeds in the droppings sprout and a tiny new fig tree starts growing in the fork of the host tree. The story of the strangler fig and its unfortunate host are shown in the diagrams at right.
Stage 1
A tiny seedling (shown above) sprouts in the fork of another tree. The seedling sends roots snaking down the tree trunk		 Stage 2
As the young fig grows, the roots wrap around the host tree all the way to the ground.		 Stage 3
The roots almost completely envelope the base of the host tree. The host tree dies and the fig becomes a new giant tree

Strangler figs in Queensland. In the example at far right only a small part of the host tree is visible

Angophora costata

This Angophora costata growing in Kur-ring-gai Chase National Park(both photos left) first grew out of a crack in a cliff face. As it got older its base spread over the surrounding rock. One time I visited this tree someone had carved his initials into it. I dedicate the cartoon below to that person.

In a splurge of construction of toilet blocks and steps and railings this tree has now been fenced off from the public, which is probably sensible although I also think it's a huge shame. The new railings detract greatly from the natural beauty of the area and after visiting this tree so many times over more than 20 years, the fence feels like it's separating you from nature instead of allowing you to feel like you're surrounded by nature. Thankfully these pictures show how beautiful this spot looked before.

Some other cool trees

Camphor laurel, Sydney
This shows why it's not a good idea to plant a camphor laurel next to your driveway. They can get big and their root system can lift up whatever's above it. These kids in the Royal National Park had a great time crawling over the tree. The camphor laurel, though, is considered a noxious pest in many areas.

This one was poisoned by vandals and had to be removed for public safety. Perhaps the vandals were trying to prevent the tree's seeds from spreading into the nearby bush.

 

 

Leaning tree, NSW
You can usually look at a tree and figure out how it grew but, to use an awful pun, this one has me stumped.

Then again, who cares? It seems healthy enough.

 

 

Split trunk, River red gum, South Australia
This tree has been growing so long its trunk has split into three. That's not unusual, but this river gum was especially big and beautiful

 

 



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