The city landscape at present is dominated by large areas of purple– jacaranda trees displaying their brilliant coloured flowers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Jacarandas are often considered to be native to Australia, because of the widespread plantings and their colourful displays. Jacarandas are in fact native to Brazil, where they are deciduous because of the monsoonal wet and dry seasons.
However, there is another tree in flower at this time, providing a contrast with golden yellow flowers to the flowers of the jacaranda. This tree is a native to Australia and is the Native Frangipani, hymenosporum flavum.
Native frangipani is a rainforest tree and gets its name because it produces creamy yellow
frangipani-like flowers with a strong, heady fragrance. It is not related to the exotic frangipani, plumeria. The branches grow in horizontal layers. Leaves are dark green and glossy.
The flowers are a pale cream in colour when they first bloom, aging to a deep sulphur yellow. They are attractive to honey-eaters and butterflies.
It is an evergreen tree, growing to a maximum of about 20 metres in its natural habitat of warmer areas. However, in this region trees will form a slender, smaller, upright tree of about 10 metres in height. The bark is grey and rough.
Flowers first appear in early spring and open to form tubular blooms with flattened petals at the ends. The effect of the younger paler coloured flowers mixed with the stronger coloured mature flowers can be quite dramatic as trees generally produce a good cover of flowers. The flowering period extends to early summer. Seeds pods are hard and brown and contain numerous closely packed layers of brown, papery seeds.
Native frangipani is a popular Australian plant in cultivation as it is a hardy plant, even growing satisfactorily in dry climates if supplementary water is available. It grows in most reasonably well drained soils but those with a high organic content are preferred.
Because of its generally narrow habit of growth, the plant will grow successfully in smaller gardens.
Plants flower best in an open, sunny position but can be grown successfully in shady areas, although some protection from strong winds is advisable. Established plants will tolerate at least moderate frost.
