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How tall is a bunya tree?
The Bunya Bunya is an evergreen coniferous tree, which locally can grow to a height of 120 feet with a branch spread of up to 50 feet. Its massive trunk can reach a diameter of 60 inches. Its shape is symmetrically pyramidal when young, growing more rounded and egg-shaped as it matures. It is the top-of-the-egg domed crown that forms its distinctive canopy. The branches are produced in whorls around the trunk, as on other Araucarias.
When was the Bunya tree planted?
Prized for its exotic appearance, it was regularly planted in our area, starting in the late 1800’s, on the grounds of ranch houses, grand estates, larger residential homes, and public parks.
What are the Bunya nuts?
The nuts were an important source of food and great festivals were held in conjunction with their harvesting that attracted groups in the thousands and could last several months . Tribes would walk hundreds of miles to participate in these gatherings which centered on the harvesting, eating, and celebrating the Bunya Bunya nuts. Today the nuts are still eaten by the indigenous Australians, as well as by newer indigenous food enthusiasts. The nuts can be eaten raw, roasted, boiled, or ground into a paste for eating directly or baking into a bread. New recipes utilizing the nut include pancakes, biscuits, artisan breads, casseroles, pesto, and hummus. The nut flour makes a nutritious gluten-free alternative in baking.
How long does it take for a bunya to bear cones?
It takes 14 years for a Bunya Bunya to begin bearing cones. It is “monoecious”, meaning it has both male cones and female cones on the same tree. Male pollen cones are cylindrical, 8-inch long, and appear on the ends of short lateral branches in April. Female seed cones emerge near the treetop between December and March after pollination, and mature in August and September.
What is the botanical name of a araucaria?
The botanical name for this tree is Araucaria bidwillii. The genus name, Araucaria, refers to the Araucani Indians of central Chile. The specific epithet, bidwillii, honors the English-born botanist and Australian immigrant, John Carne Bidwill (1815-1853).
What color is a resinous tree?
The resinous trunk bark varies in color from dark brown to gray to black. It is thick (2- to 4-inches) and often exudes a thick cream-colored sap where injured or where limbs break off. The trunk develops large warts, called “branch collars”, which serve to strongly reinforce the attachment of the heavy branches to the trunk. Where limbs are closely pruned off at the point of a branch collar, a new branch will sprout from the living tissue exposed at its core.
When to stand under a bunya?
Caveat: Standing under a local Bunya during the months of August and September is definitely inadvisable, because ripe seed cones are enormously heavy, will drop off without warning, and land, with great force, on the ground—or on anything or anyone on the ground!
CHARACTERISTICS
Foliage Type: Evergreen Tree Form: Pyramidal to rounded canopy Leaves: Scale-like, stiff, sharp Pollen Cones: Cylindrical, up to 8" long Seed Cones: Very large, weigh up to 22 lbs Mature Tree Height: 80-100 ft Mature Tree Spread: 20-50 ft
SUITABLE FOR
Sunset Zones: 7-9, 12-24 Sun Exposure: Full sun to full shade Soil Moisture Level: Moist Uses: Specimen tree. Not ideal near buildings and heavy-use areas due to heavy cones dropping.
DID YOU KNOW?
Bunya bunyas are integral to traditional aboriginal lifestyles in its native range of Queensland, Australia. The tree was widely used for its wood and edible seeds. In fact, the word bunya means big in many aboriginal languages. Doubling the word to bunya bunya simply means big big, or really big.
What is a Bunya pine?
The Bunya-Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii) by Byron Joel, oaktreedesigns.com.au. Of all the striking aspects of the subtropical regions of Australia’s east coast, the landforms, the climate, the exotic fauna… few offer as immediately impressive a sight as a fully mature Bunya pine. Reaching a recorded height of 45m, ...
What zone is bunya in?
All these factors have been well discussed. Given their size (and potential ballistic dangers), bunya are ideal for the Zone 4/5 edge.
How long does it take for a bunya seed to germinate?
Bunyas can be unpredictable in their germination. On a recent trip to the Australian National Arboretum in Canberra I spoke to Adam Burgess, a fellow Araucariaceae enthusiast and head curator, to help shed some light on the subject. Once planted, a seed may take one month to germinate. It may take eighteen.
What is a bumper crop of Bunya cones?
A bumper crop of Bunya cones. A council sign in Perth warning of the. potential dangers of falling cones. Aboriginal peoples traditionally ate the nuts raw, roasted or stored them underground in wet mud, which is believed to have improved the flavor as well as extended their length of availability.
Why was Bunya important to Aboriginal people?
The Bunya was of immense cultural significance to the life and food security of the Aboriginal peoples who lived in proximity to it. Every year the trees would produce a small yield of nuts and every three years or so a bumper crop so large as to support clan gatherings of hundreds and very possibly thousands of Aboriginal people over the harvesting months. It was at these gatherings, feasting on the nuts, that they would perform activities such as extra-tribal ceremonies, settle disputes, trade goods and arrange marriages.
How to grow trees in a nursery?
One: Rocket Pots and Racks. Developed by Australian horticulturalist, Peter Lawton, the rocket pot and accompanying flood rack system is a way to grow tree crops in a regular nursery environment while ensuring that the usual issues of becoming root bound are avoided. Trees are germinated in pots with many holes in them. Once the tree’s roots, taproot included, reach one of the holes they are ”air pruned” and stop growing, effectively going into a stasis. Later, when the trees are planted, those roots, with their delicate growing tips still intact, continue their growing process outward, away from the stem, unimpeded by the impervious plastic membrane of most pots — those that send roots around and around in search for extra space to grow. Instead of the usual overhead sprinkler systems, flood irrigation is provided, encouraging the roots to chase the water downward as it recedes during the drainage cycle.
Can you find bunya pine in a nursery?
Whichever humid climate zone you may find yourself in, there is a chance that a bunya pine has made its way there. It may be as easy as going to a local retail nursery, or you may have to go and enquire at the nearest botanical gardens. However you do it, it’s well worth the while of future inhabitants of the area in which you live that specimens be found and awareness of this amazing tree ally be raised.
