The Orchid Forests of Hull River's Wetlands, in tropical Far North Queensland, Australia You can press your F11 key to switch to Full Screen view and back The tropical north of Queensland is the closest thing to paradise you will ever find. The trade winds blow from the south-east, bringing warm rain and cooling clouds. The summer monsoon is at its most reliable here. Cyclones are an occasional threat - this year the area was devastated by the Category 5 Cyclone Larry. A damage report will be added in due course. Townsville to Cape York - showing the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics rainforests and Lot 11 Source : NASA Worldwind The Hull River catchment Source : Google Earth The Hull River is almost entirely within World Heritage listed National Parks. Lower left is Hull Heads, lower right is South Mission Beach, with Tam O'Shanter Point in between. The Tully valley runs up the left hand side, with the township of Tully in the half distance. The explorer Edmund Kennedy landed just south of the Point in 1848 but could not penetrate the dense forests, so he tried again further south near Cardwell. This is part of the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, and has the highest rainfall in all of Australia. The Carmoo area has an annual rainfall of about 3,600 mm (142 inches). Source : © Dept. of Lands Qld. 2000 - extract from 8062 Run 13 037-064 - showing Lot 11 The vegetation with a purple tinge in the photo is Melaleuca forest, and the area of brown is a lake of brackish water, stained by tea trees. The lighter green vegetation along the tidally-flushed river and tributaries is mangrove forest. The property is about 9 acres altogether and can be divided into four vegetation communities. The southern edge and south-west corner is mangroves, the eastern strip is open paperbark forest, the western strip is riparian (river-bank) rainforest, and the central strip is medium open forest being invaded by rainforest. It is mapped as Regional Ecosystems 7.1.1, 7.3.5, 7.3.22 and 7.3.7. respectively. 7.3.5 Open paperbark forest This is the open paper bark forest with Melaleuca viridiflora, Lophostemon suaveolens and Pandanus solms-laubachii dominant, and the ferns Dicranopteris linearis and Lycopodiella cernua forming a dense ground layer tangle to 1 metre. The soil is fine, white alluvial clay which is typical of a Potentially Acid Sulphate Soil. Pandanus species are difficult to identify definitively, but this one has the jaw-breaking name of Pandanus solms-laubachii. Notice how the leaves seem to radiate out from the growing apex in a hemisphere, and how thick the trunk is immediately below the apex. More detail on Pandanus species in the Wet Tropics is here. Dicranopteris linearis with its forked branching pattern forms a dense tangle up to a metre tall. Its ability to grow on the poorest of soils, even bare rock and freshly scraped road-side verges, indicate the soil here is very poor and probably acid sulphate forming. This ground layer is Lycopodiella cernua, which is classified as a fern ally. This grouping is related to true ferns, but the plants do not have true fronds and their spores are developed in special structures called sporophylls, rather than on the underside of fronds. Left is a fertile section of Lycopodiella showing sporophyls. The scale bar is 1 cm. These plants also spread by runners along the ground. These runners have a different form from the upright parts of the plant. Below is a close up of a sporophyl. Entwined in the tangle of ferns is the unusual Dodder Vine (Cassytha pubescens) which is a leafless parasite that attaches itself to other plants with small suckers. The plant is initially green with chlorophyll, but when mature ceases to photosynthesise and turns yellow. And also entwined in the tangle is the unusual fern Lygodium reticulatum. This fern has a wiry stem (a rachis) with secondary branches carrying paired leaflets. The leaflets are either sterile or fertile, with the sporangia mounted on the edge of the leaflet. These plants also occur in the rainforest, and a curtain of these stems can be quite impenetrable. Velleia spathulata grows in nutrient-poor, bare gravel in puddles Forest Violet, Lobelia membranacea, grows as a mat of tangle of stems, and can carpet the ground with blue over patches of several metres with good overhead sunlight. Drosera spatulata is a carnivorous plant that traps insects with drops of sticky exudate that come from glands on the leaves, and contains digestive enzymes. It is usually found growing in puddles standing in acid sulphate soils. The flower is either white or pale purple. Source : plantnet.rbgsyd.gov.au Tricoryne anceps is an unusual plant in that it has only one small leaf per stem, and the flowers are borne as an umbel on a peduncle that has wings that act like leaves. In other words, it photosynthesises with its flower-stalks, not with its leaves ! Why is that so amazing ? Because it demonstrates that evolution can do silly things and get away with it. If there was an Intelligent Designer, She would do a better job with Tricoryne anceps than this. I mean, why would you deliberately not use leaves for photosynthesis ? This flower has a native bee deciding if it is going to get anything to eat out of it. This is Xyris complanata which puts out a new flower each day in an inflorescence atop a 400 mm flattened stem. The leaves are linear and flattened, and grow in enfolded pairs. These plants grow where there has been disturbance and poor water-logged soils. The 'Button Orchid' Dischidia nummularia is not an orchid at all, but a succulent that grows as an epiphyte on trees with absorbent bark, like Melaleucas. This photo shows a fallen branch close up, but they are typically seen climbing on higher branches. The stem grows close to the bark, and is attached by small rootlets that are produced at the leaf nodes. This paperbark forest is literally festooned in Dischidia. I have never seen anything like it before. The flowers are tiny, with five petals fused for most of their length. The flowers often occur singly, but the plant can have groups of up to six flowers, spreading radially on a short stem. The seeds are already close to their preferred habitat, so there is no need for seed dispersal. Instead the seed germinates while still attached to the old flower stem, forming a plantlet that puts out a stem that 'feels' for a place on the paperbark to attach. Colonies of plants thus grow into tangles and sometimes become partially dislodged, hanging in strands and curtains from the branches. Melaleuca viridiflora or Broad-leaved Tea Tree is the dominant canopy species indicating the water-table is at or above the surface for some months of the year. Its spongy paper bark soaks up a lot of rainwater, and epiphytic plants live on this bark, absorbing the moisture but not taking nutrients from the tree itself. Melaleucas flower over a prolonged period of the year, and provide a basic diet for nectar-feeding creatures such as the endangered Mahogany Glider and fruit bats. You can see Button Orchid on the stem on the right, and Ant-house Plant on the left. These bottlebrush flowers appeared in mid-January when the wet season started after a dry September-December period. Among the interesting plants that live on the paperbarks is the strange Ant-house Plant (Myrmecodia beccarii). The stalks of this plant are like swollen, prickly tubers made of a stringy, starchy material, which have natural hollows inside forming a well-protected honeycombed chamber. These are entered by Golden Ants (Iridomyrmex cordatus) through small holes on the surface. The endangered Apollo Jewel Butterfly (Hypochrysops apollo) also visits the plants. In these tunnels, the ants farm the caterpillar of the butterfly, which eat the free starch and secrete a syrup-like substance from glands on their backs. The ants 'milk' this gland and eat the syrup. The larvae then pupate and hatch normally and fly away. QM The seeds of this plant are spread by the Mistletoe Bird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum). Mistletoe and Ant-plants have a very similar way of spreading. When the bird stops trying to nibble the flesh of the fruit, it wipes the seed off its beak onto the paperbark. The sticky flesh on the seeds helps glue the seed onto the damp paperbark. The seed then germinates and the roots grow into the paperbark for support and moisture. In the case of Mistletoe, it also goes on to tap into the host plant's sap, and it gets energy out of that. So Mistletoe is called a Parasite, while Ant-house Plant is an Epiphyte. So life for the Apollo Jewel butterfly is dependent on birds, ants, epiphytes and trees. This is a very young Ant-house Plant, jostling for space with Button Orchid, at a hollow in a paperbark branch. These plants sometimes grow into quite big clumps, see below. The orchid Cymbidium madidum produces billions of very fine seeds that drift like smoke until they lodge in the fork of a paperbark. These orchids are 'Bottlebrush Orchid', Dendrobium smilliae, growing on a Swamp Mahogany. This tree was standing on the very edge of the mangrove forests. Dendrobium smilliae flowers. Note the characteristic rings around the bulb and the longitudinal ridges. Dendrobium canaliculatum and Dischidia nummularia on Melaleuca viridiflora. There are some big clumps of this orchid, Eria fitzalani, high up in the forks of some big trees, but this one was easier to photograph. This little bladderwort, Utricularia sp., has only vestigial leaves and grows from a small root system on a stem about 150 mm tall. The scale is in millimetres. A whole carpet of these appeared around the spring equinox in a drainage ditch/pond which is often flooded, but had recently dried out. The flower has only two petals, and these act as a trap to lure in and capture prey (native bees ?) and digest them for nutrition, otherwise unavailable from the poor soils. What's that ? The central trunk is of a Pandanus tree, and it has the epiphytic Felt Fern (Pyrosia longifolia) growing on it above, and Basket Fern (Drynaria rigidula) below it. The Basket Fern traps falling debris in its basket, which its roots then feed off. It often catches the seeds or spores of other plants, which then grow out of it, as this Felt Fern has done. This Pandanus tree is supporting a Basket Fern, Silver Elkhorn, and the unusual fern ally Psilotum nudum. Competition is fierce in the wet tropics ! Sword Sedge, Gahnia sieberiana, grows in open paperbark forest. This rush, Dapsilanthus ramosus, stands one metre tall, and indicates the locality is subject to regular inundation. The undergrowth beneath the paperbarks begins to include the grass trees. 7.3.7 : medium open floodplain forest Between the open paperbark forest and the closed rainforest is an endangered ecosystem which is characterised by a medium open canopy and grasstree understorey, as opposed to the fern tangle of the paperbark forest and the leaf litter understorey of the rainforest. Red Mahogany (Eucalyptus pellita), Pink Bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia) and Brown Salwood (Acacia mangium) are the dominant canopy trees. Pink Bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia) is a tall eucalypt tree. Like most eucalypts, the flowers form in a woody cup that will form the capsule containing the seeds. A lid covering the cup and protecting the stamens, called an operculum or calyptra, lifts off at flowering. The Brown Salwood (Acacia mangium) is a tall wattle capable of being an emergent in rainforest as well as a framework tree in medium-open forest and a pioneer in open country. Wattles do not have true leaves, with an abscission zone to aid in leaf shedding, but phyllodes. A. mangium has a phyllode with four main veins, with two running close together for about one quarter of the leaf length. The seed pods are coiled with about 12 on one stem, often intertwined. The small black seeds are spread by cockatoos. Acacia crassicarpa is a tall wattle that can survive growing in heavy clay along with the paperbarks, but can also form the early 'pioneer' canopy in rainforest regrowth on better soils. It is unusual to find a perfect leaf. The infloresences are spikes of small yellow flowers. These are fallen flowers and leaves, with a wallaby dropping partly dissolved by the rain. The seed pods are often smaller and somewhat more twisted than this example. The Northern Forest Grasstree (Xanthorrhoea johnsonii) is said to take 100 years to grow to 88 cm tall, which is about what this one is. You can see the remains of last year's flower spike falling away to the right. The skirt of dried old leaves indicates it is a long time since fire went through area. National Parks would probably recommend doing a light controlled burn every four years, to stop the rainforest from invading the open forest. But I have seen the effects of that - mostly it doesn't burn, and where it DOES burn the orchids and other epiphytes get severely damaged. The flower spike of the Grass Tree carries a strong flow of sugary sap to feed the growing inflorescence. This sap is a source of food for the endangered Mahogany Glider, Petaurus gracilis, which gnaws the spike to make it 'bleed' and then licks off the sap. I am not sure if this damage was caused by a Mahogany Glider. The location is about 3 Km north of the most northerly MG siting to date, which was in the corresponding position on the south side of the Hull River, in similar 7.3.5 / 7.3.7 forest. Source : JCU Lasiandra, Melastoma affine, is a shrub with a bushy, sprawling habit. Its fruits are edible, but will stain your tongue blue. This plant was growing in dappled shade, so the leaves are rich with chlorophyl and nutrients. Out in the blazing sun, this shrub takes on a much more hardy look. Rhodomyrtus trineura is a shrub to 3 metres. The leaves have a distinctive intra-marginal vein. The flower has 4 or 5 cream petals. The fruit is white when fully ripe, but they rarely last that long. Love Flower (Pseuderanthemum variabile) This scrambling vine, Smilax australia, makes walking through the forest really difficult as it is very tough and unyielding. The fruits will all ripen to black if they are not eaten first. Mackinlaya confusa is a shrub with a compound palmate leaf. It can produce such a heavy crop of fruits that the stem is bent over into an arch. Bellbird Vine (Melodinus australis) is a woody scrambling vine that arches and snakes its way through Pandanus tangles and other understorey plants. It has a milky sap, which is always a warning sign of poisonous properties. It is in the family Apocynaceae, along with the very poisonous Oleander. Keep the milky sap well away from eyes, mouth and skin cuts. You can see that the fruit's skin is also protected by white sap and bleeds when a boring insect emerges from inside. Inside there are about thirty seeds in a tasty-looking mush. The fruit is said to be eaten by cockatoos and cassowaries, but I wouldn't try it myself. Breynia cernua is a small tree with shiny leaves and small red fruit. The Golden Guinea Tree, Dillenia alata, is known for its showy flowers. The large, leathery leaves have an unusual feature in their winged petioles, or leaf stalks. These trees do well in areas that are flooded occasionally. Its bark is dull redish and comes off in flakes exposing a fresher red colour. Feral pigs often rub themselves against the trunks. The fruit looks a bit like a flower, with 8 segments arranged radially. Each segment holds a small brown seed surrounded by a white fleshy aril, edible but not special. Macaranga involucrata is a small tree that grows on the margins of rainforest, particularly in sunny spots. They often tip over and put out new growth from the fallen log, and sucker off snapped trunks. The leaves have the petiole (leaf stalk) attached at the edge at a sharp angle to the plane of the leaf (sub-peltate) and there are 2 to 4 yellow glands near the base. 7.1.1 : Mangrove forest To the south, the land is inundated at Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) and the creek loses track of where it is supposed to be going. The vegetation changes sharply to mangrove forest, with Cottonwood, Hibiscus tiliaceus, on the margin. HAT is the highest tide of any time from 1900 to 2100. Most years the King Tide will come within 50 cm of HAT. Beyond is Hull River National Park and 5,000 hectares of mangrove mudflats and brackish lakes. It is serious crocodile country. Estuarine Crocodiles, Crocodylus porosus, make their nests on hummocks above the high tide line and adjacent to water. Breeding is often very successful, but the casualty rate amongst young crocs is high. As they grow, the young ones need to find themselves a quiet territory, so there is a regular emigration from the nesting areas. The largest simple flower in the rainforest is that of the Cottonwood, Hibiscus tiliaceus, with a diameter of about 140 mm. These flowers open in the morning and drop off before sunset. The usual colouring is red with yellow veins and a dark red centre, but some have more yellow in their petals, that turns redder between the veins as the flower dies. Both leaves and flowers are often attacked by insects that cut small holes in them. Mangrove Fern (Acrostichum speciosum) is a tough fern that tolerates salt-water inundation and a water-logged soil. This one is growing right on the highest tide line, but others are growing in thick, gooey mud amongst the mangroves. The fertile leaflets are found at the ends of the fronds and are much smaller than the infertile leaflets. The spores are held in sporangia that cover the entire under-surface of the leaflet. Crinum pedunculatum is a lily that is growing here amongst the mangroves in sticky mud, but is also found on beaches growing in sand. Cyperus sedges are common at the edge of the mangroves. I am still trying to sort out the identity of these ones. C. polystachyos (?) (left) is found in full sun. Cyperus sp. (middle) has a 5 veined leaf with an M cross-section. The mid-vein and the intramarginal veins are barbed, so that running your fingers towards the base will cut you - hence the name "sword sedge". Cyperus sp. (right) has a single-veined leaf with a soft texture. Very commonly found in locations that can go under water for prolonged periods, but also can dry out for long periods, is the sedge Scleria polycarpa. These sedges grow in clumps and stand 1.2 metres tall. They will often form dense stands if there is enough light and water. The triangular cross-section of the stem forms three very sharp edges that can easily cut your hands if you pull on them. 7.3.22 : Riparian rainforest The Western boundary of the block is a creek with riparian rainforest. This forest has a much denser canopy, and is much darker at ground level. Shade specialists include the Elkhorns, which are ferns that are epiphytic on the trunks of trees. Pandanus trees have an unusual bark texture that is particularly suitable for Elkhorns. This fallen tree is Eucalyptus pellita, which has a spongy, flakey, red bark that suits ferns and orchids. The fern has two kinds of fronds. The non-fertile ones form a basket that catches falling leaves and debris, and rainwater trickling down the supporting tree trunk keeps it all damp. The plant's roots then penetrate this compost and extract the nutrients. The fertile fronds are leathery and develop a deeply lobed margin. This is Silver Elkhorn, Platycerium hillii, that is only found in the wettest areas of the Wet Tropics. The sporangia containing the spores are restricted to the ends of the fronds, on the underside. This photo was taken at the edge of the mangroves, where they meet the rainforest. It is a bit difficult to make out exactly what is happening, but in fact the angled trunks are Cottonwood, with the remains of a dead Elkhorn fern still clasping it. Out of the spongey mass is growing a Ribbon Fern, Ophioglossum pendulum, with flat fronds dangling up to a metre long. Zamia Palm is not a true palm, but a cycad - a branch of the greater family of plants with seeds, but without flowers, the Gymnosperms. This is Lepidozamia hopei growing on the bank of the creek close to the high-tide line. The large compound leaves of this climbing palm are very like the Alexandra Palm that also grows here, but the thorns on the stem identify this as the dreaded 'Wait-a-while' (Calamus moti). As well as these thorns, the plant puts out whip-like flagella that are armed with backward-pointing hooks that help the plant to climb up into the canopy, but also catch on your hair or clothing. Once caught, you MUST stop, grip the back of the whip with your fingertips near its tip, and carefully back out of its grip. Once the flagella has scratched an animal, its barbs will have congealed blood on them and any subsequent scratches they make are likely to become infected. If you get scratched, wash the scratch well with soapy water and apply some ointment like honey or Aloe Vera, which grows locally very well. Wait-a-while is a native and a natural part of the rainforest ecology, closing any gaps in the canopy. It is particularly prevalent in cyclone-damaged forest and young forest, where its weight and shade can slow down tree growth. Its fruit are eaten and spread by cassowaries, although they don't have any removable flesh, so it don't suppose it does them any good. In some tropical countries, Calamus species have stems growing up to 180 metres, making them the longest plants in the world. The long stems are cut and dragged out of the forest. (This must be the worst job in the world) They are then cleaned and coiled and dried. Then they are taken to the sea and allowed to soak up salt water, before being dried again. This gives top quality rattan cane, which is used for furniture, frames for fish-nets and baskets, even suspension bridges and crocodile nooses. The Fan Palm (Licuala ramsayi) is scattered throughout the rainforest, although the block doesn't have any old trees. When mature, they produce large quantities of red cherry fruits, that are favourites of Cassowaries and Wompoo Fruit Doves. We have a number of local Wompoos calling to each other from perches high up in the canopy, but it is very difficult to see them, and even harder to photograph them. So where are all the Cassowaries ? Well, they are here occasionally - this is a pile of dropping including a Pandanus segment and a lot of Tarzali Silkwood seeds, which are a great favourite. But these big birds need an extensive home range of about 200 hectares to survive, so they are well spread out. They spend the nights in the hills, and come down to the edge of the swamp for water during the day. For a fuller description of cassowaries with photos, see here. You can just see that one seed is sprouting, and over time there will be a clump of seedlings, from which only one will survive. This is a young stinging tree that has rooted itself into this pile of old logs and debris. The stings from having these leaves just brush your skin is terrible. So Keep Away, OK ? But how - when the forest is so FULL of leaves, and they all look so much the same ? Well, these are quite different if you look a bit more carefully. The overall shape is called ovate (egg-like) with apex acute. The stalk attaches at a steep angle to the plane of the leaf-blade - this is called peltate. The plant holds the leaves up to the light in a distinctively horizontal kind of way. The edges of the leaf are finely toothed all the way around. You can often see damage to the leaf surface by insects that can tolerate its poison. Left Stinging Tree, Dendrocnide moroides, note the leaf stalk attaches some centimetres in from the edge of the leaf (= peltate) Right Brown Kurrajong, Commersonia bartramia, note the leaf stalk attaches at the leaf edge at a sharp angle (= sub-peltate) Pandanus monticola is restricted to the rainforest, whereas P. solms-laubachii is found all over the block. Monticola has shorter, narrower leaves that are arranged on their stem over the top metre or so, pointing upwards at 45° to start off with. The stems are narrow, about 3 cm diameter, and are unable to keep the plant upright, so they sprawl in a tangle with vines and each other. When the barbed leaves from two stems interlock, they form an impenetrable barrier. More detail can be found here. White Beech (Gmelina dalrympleana) is a tree often found in the swampy margins of rainforest. The fruit is juicy, with the flesh quickly turning from white to yellow. The seeds are very hard and the blunt end (where the stalk joins) has five small raised lips. White Apple (Syzygium forte) is a rainforest tree often found close to the beach, in sandy soil, but this exception proves the rule. The fruit has a deep cup surrounded by four short calyx lobes, with the style persistent. In this rainforest there are an unusual number of the Native Gardenia, Atractocarpus fitzalani. These have a delicately scented show of flowers each evening, and then they spend a long time growing a fruit about the size of an orange, containing numerous flat seeds. The tree has evolved a genome which directs the tree to put a lot of resources into each fruit. Each fruit is covered in a flesh that softens on ripening, that is the reward for the creature that eats it and drops the seeds elsewhere. But what creature could swallow a thing that big ? Only the Cassowary. And that is why the Cassowary is so important in the rainforest. In the intricate web of life, some rainforest trees have become reliant on a bird that is now endangered. Alpinia caerulea is a ginger that grows up to 2 metres tall in heavy shade. This photo shows one remaining blue fruit, and a second flush of white flowers. Native Cardamon, Hornstedtia scottiana, is a ginger that grows to 4 metres. The flowers form around the base of the stems and the fruits, protected by reddish coloured bracts, have a fleshy pulp with a pungent odour that can be used in cooking. This is a seedling of the Candle Nut, Aleurites moluccana var. rockinghamensis. It will become a tall, fast-growing tree with larger leaves than this. The fruit is a capsule containing three nuts. The kernels are high in oil and can either be burnt directly as candles, or can be pressed to produce an oil, known in asia as Tung Oil. This is a drying oil that is used as a varnish and to waterproof boat hulls. This is a Symplocos cochinchinensis. It has very small white flowers and black fruits. Source : Damon Ramsey, Educational Tours Australia Pink Euodia, Melicope elleryana, is a tall tree with masses of flowers in the wet season. The flowers produce a lot of nectar, which attracts many birds. Rainbow lorikeets prefer to wait until afternoon, when the fermenting sugars get them drunk. Then, hanging upside down and shrieking wildly, they flap their wings making a signal that brings flocks of their friends. After a good session, they leave a carpet of shredded flowers on the ground. The Ulysses Butterfly, Papilio ulysses, lays its eggs on the underside of the leaves, which are the favoured food for their caterpillars. Macaranga inamoena seedling Casearia dallachii is a shrub to small tree that fruits when only 1 metre tall. This fruit was the first fruit I found after the cyclone, and was soon discovered and stripped by the local cassowary. These flowers are from a Dysoxylum species (perhaps klanderi). It is a heavily butressed tree with pendulous branches overhanging a permanent creek, with masses of flowers hanging down in strings. Unfortunately it didn't produce any fruit this year, so identification is difficult. The leaf-bearing twigs turn woody while the leaves are still attached, which is unusual. The individual flowers have four petals fused into a square-sectioned tube, and the stamens are located around the mouth of the tube. Coast Canthium (Cyclophyllum multiflorum) is a tall tree with leaves in pairs. The fruits form in small bunches at leaf axils along the twigs. The fruit contains two seeds. Polyscias australiana is a rainforest mid-story tree. It has a woody trunk, but it is very thin, with a whorl of compound leaves bunched around the apex. The infloresences grow in whorls around the tip, each one being a panicle or compound arrangement of flowers. The flowers open progressively over a couple of weeks, and only last a day. This kind of rainforest is called a 'vine forest' because of the important role that vines play here. Probably the most common vine here is the Sandpaper Vine, Tetracera nordtiana. It's leaves and wirey stems are very tough and scratchy. On fresh growth, the leaves are tinged with red. Each flower has three green styles surrounded by sixty white stamens. Flowering is accompanied by a sweet perfume. The old stems get thick and woody as they coil around in the forest litter, and the whole plant forms 'climber towers' on the trees. During Cyclone Larry, the vines in the forest canopy helped to distribute the load amongst the trees, and so perhaps prevented some trees from falling over. However the down side of this is when a tall tree falls the vines pull a lot of smaller stuff over with it. After Cyclone Larry, with a lot of the canopy stripped of its leaves and branches, a lot of extra light is making it down to the forest floor level. This stimulates vines like this one to put out more shoots and leaves. Because vines don't build stiff woody trunks, but climb on others, they can respond quickly to the opportunity of a gap in the canopy. Unfortunately, with things being 'out of balance' in the aftermath, if the vines do TOO WELL, then they will smother the remaining trees. This is one vine that needs to be kept under control post-cyclone. Flower close-up Dry flowers and mature seed head Each flower results in up to four small capsules, which split open along one edge to reveal a black seed surrounded by a bright red, frilly appendage called an aril. Its aim is to attract birds to take the seed and drop it elsewhere. This is called the "Bleeding Heart Tree" (Homalanthus nutans). I can't imagine why. Another fern taking advantage of the Pandanus's good base for epiphytes is Vittaria ensiformis. Bowenia spectabilis is a cycad, which means it is in a different grouping from the flowering plants. It puts out a single bipinnate leaf and its fruiting body is developed at just below ground level. Although it is sometimes called Zamia Fern, it is not a fern, and has little connection with Zamia, which is another genus of cycads. This northern species of Bird's Nest Fern is Asplenium nidus, growing on Pandanus solms-laubachii. The Powderpuff Lilly-Pilly (Syzygium wilsonii) is a shrub that scrambles through the tangle of vines usually present on the ground level of rainforest. The fresh leaves have a purplish colour due to the lack of red-absorbing pigments at this stage. The flowers are really beautiful, and eventually lead on to small white fruit, which are a favourite of the Cassowary. This tamarind is probably Sarcotoechia protracta, but is also a fairly good match for Toechima erythrocarpum, the Pink Tamarind, and Toechima monticola, the Mountain Tamarind (which is usually found on the Atherton tablelands). The fruit is a capsule with 3 seeds and the valves (outer segments of the capsule) have fine white hairs on the inside, next to the seed. Willow says "Haven't we been far enough ? Let's stop now." If you want to keep going, there is another tour like this one, of Chakoro Nature Reserve, with a special section on the Cassowary that inhabits these amazing forests. Chakoro is about 1 kilometer away and is another neighbour of Hull River National Park. Please take the tour of Chakoro Nature Reserve Thanks to Russell Cumming who corrected my errors. Press F11 again to return to normal view Dave Kimble April 2005 You can support my not-for-profit causes by making a donation by secure on-line transaction. Thank you.