Tree-mendous talents

The perfectly ordinary tree in the corner of my childhood suburban backyard was a tree of many talents. It provided a shady spot to eat melting ice blocks on hot summer days. It held the amateur bird feeding station I made in high school woodwork class which, to everyone’s surprise, worked and brought native birds flocking in. Its sturdy branches were the perfect base for an elaborate treehouse which was constantly under-construction.

All over NSW national parks there are multi-talented native trees, a little more glamorous and impressive than the one in my backyard. Let’s take a closer look at the greenery…

Scribbly gum / Eucalyptus haemastoma

You can skip the art gallery because, with striking zig-zag patterns on its smooth yellow, white or silver grey trunk, the scribbly gum is a living canvas. The painters making these experimental modern art ‘scribbles’ are actually moth larvae, as they tunnel between the old and new layers of bark. Every year when the tree sheds its old bark, the new markings are revealed.

You’ll spot this arty eucalyptus in the coastal plains and hills areas of NSW, especially around Sydney’s Heathcote, Ku-ring-gai Chase, Muogamarra and Blue Mountains national parks.

Dwarf mountain pine / Pherosphaera fitzgeraldii

This special little pine is a relic species that has outlived the dinosaurs and is what we call a ‘Gondwana-era’ plant, from more than 200 million years ago. It is found only within a 9km range of cliff line in the upper Blue Mountains National Park between Wentworth Falls and Katoomba and lives in the spray zone or drip areas around waterfalls on steep sandstone cliffs, ledges or below overhangs. It is listed as endangered and vulnerable to extinction from natural or human-caused events because of its small population size, the super limited area it lives in and its low ability to reproduce. But in good news, the pine’s home has now been given an ultra-exclusive title (and some pretty amazing protections) as an ‘Asset of Intergenerational Significance’.

The grandis / Eucalyptus grandi

Is being really, really tall a ‘talent’? We’ll call it one, so we can include this incredible tree. The grandis, found in the lush coastal forest on the edge of Myall Lakes National Park, north of Bulahdelah, is NSW’s tallest known tree. Towering above the canopy at over 70m high, with a huge 11.5m circumference base, this magnificent flooded gum has been here for over 400 years. This forest giant is easy to get to via Grandis picnic area and boardwalk… but so big it’s hard to capture in one photo!

Mulga / Acacia aneura

The mulga is a hardy wattle tree, sporting pretty spikes of bright yellow flowers which bloom after rain. You’ll find it in dry outback areas like Gundabooka and Paroo-Darling national parks.

Its special talent is being an extremely clever water saver, using an impressive natural plumbing system. It has an unusually long taproot which goes deep into the soil, and a sophisticated arrangement of branches that tunnel all-important water to the stem. Droughts? Never heard of ‘em!

Snow gum / Eucalyptus pauciflora

At home in the alpine and tablelands areas in NSW, the glamorous snow gum has a dramatically twisted, stunted trunk and branches made by the blasting effects of wind, snow and ice. Its warped form, smooth grey-cream bark and glossy, waxy leaves against the backdrop of crisp white snow and rugged mountain landscapes make this tree species an irresistible wintry model.

Blue gum / Eucalyptus deanei

In a deep canyon of the Grose Valley in World-Heritage listed Blue Mountains National Park lies the Blue Gum Forest. The magnificent blue gums here tower up to 65 metres from the valley floor, with their top branches and leaves growing so close together that they form a ceiling to make what’s known as a ‘closed forest’. 

The blue gums here were saved from being cleared back in the 1930s by a group of dedicated bushwalkers who managed to pool their money together to raise the 130 pounds (a huge sum at the time) needed to buy the patch of trees from a farmer. These maverick nature-lovers preserved the blue gums for future generations in what might be Australia’s first public environmental campaign. 

Nightcap oak / Eidothea hardeniana

The tale of the prehistoric nightcap oak rivals even the most unbelievable of survival stories. The critically endangered tree has survived in the rainforests of the Nightcap Range in Northern NSW for about 40 million years.

In November 2019, a lightning strike caused bushfires to sweep through its habitat which could have wiped out the species forever. But just months later,  ruby red shoots were spotted sprouting from the blackened stumps of even some of the most badly burned trees. How did it survive? The nightcap oak has a unique superpower - it can self-reproduce its own stems and trunks.

Speaking of great survivors, the Wollemi pine has also been around for over 100 millions of years - from way back in the dinosaur era! Check out the legendary Wollemi Pine story here.

River red gum / Eucalyptus camaldulensis

The hero of the Murray-Darling Basin is the river red gum - a majestic eucalypt tree which grows to 30 metres tall. The main talent of river red gum forests is being a trusty cornerstone of the basin’s internationally significant protected wetlands, reducing erosion along the banks, and providing a home for many threatened species while they’re at it.

A great place to see these majestic trees is the Murray Valley National Park, which is part of the largest red gum forest in the world. The Murray River's red gums may drop large branches at any time without warning, so it is important to rest in an area that is clear of large trees.

NSW national parks are home to some jaw-droppingly impressive tree species, each playing an important part for the environment they are in.

So who wins the tree talent show in the end? This one has to be a tie.