4.26.2013

Arbor Day Aussie Style

In honor of Arbor Day, I thought I'd share some photos of amazing trees I took on a recent trip "down under".
There are something like 700-900 different varieties of Eucalyptus trees (some are also called Gum Trees) and most of them are native to Australia & Tasmania.
The vast majority of the trees in Australia are Eucalyptus Trees. (And there are only about 30 species of those that Koalas will eat.) Click here for more about Koalas. Oh, and don't call them "Koala Bears" They are not bears, and this will really annoy any Aussie you meet. Just a little tip. They are marsupials, and have pouches like their cousins the Wallabies and Kangaroos.
One gets in the habit of scanning the treetops while traveling around Australia. The koalas sleep 20-22 hours a day and you can see them curled up in the crooks of tree branches if you have a keen eye. This one was in a nature preserve so one could get up close and personal. 
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney



The guys are SO good looking in Sydney!



Blue Mountains

Scenic outlook, Noosa Heads

Mangroves
Their root system allows them to filter the salty waters.
Also gives the crocs a nice hiding place.

Buttressed roots, Daintree Rainforest





Fan Palm


Hope's Cycad - A relic from the age of the dinosaurs. Probably the first plant on the planet to incorporate an animal into its reproduction process.

 Daintree Rainforest



Staghorn fern attached to a host tree

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Absolutely beautiful and thank you for posting such amazing photos of a country that many of us have only dreamed about. Truly amazing -

Cindy @ a curious gardener said...

Great post! Such a great trip, Susan, thanks for sharing! I am a tree photographer on trips too and love seeing these. Hope we can make the same trip one day.

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