Every year at Christmas
We see a sight amazing
As brilliant orange blossom
Sets our bush ablazing
Nuytsias in bloom
Burning clear and bright
Outshine the indoor trees
With their gaudy Christmas lights
This gift of mother nature
Both marvellous and free
Is enjoyed in Perth at Christmas
By folk like you and me
The only thing Western Australia’s spectacular Orange Christmas Tree has in common with indoor Christmas Trees is that they both light up at Christmas. One with natural blossom and the other with electric lights! Everyone loves a Christmas tree and Perth people are blessed in having a unique self decorating native Christmas tree to admire in the festive season.
The Orange Christmas Tree (Nuytsia floribunda) is actually a giant Mistletoe reaching 10 m in height. Like all Mistletoes it is a parasite feeding off other plants but unlike other Mistletoes it is rooted in the ground and taps into the roots of other plants for its food. This can cause problems for the solitary specimen left standing by a fond farmer in his newly cleared paddock despite its extensive root system and ability to parasitise grasses.
Nuytsia are named after the Dutch explorer, Pieter Nuyts, who explored 1,000 miles of Western Australia’s south coast in 1626 -27 on-board the Guilden Zeepaard, captained by Francois Thyssen. The floribunda specific name refers to the stunning cascades of orange flowers that adorn the tree in December. Nuyts was likely the first European to observe the spectacular blossom of the Orange Christmas Tree but the Nyungar will have appreciated this beautiful display of the Mudjar from time immemorial during their Kambarang Season (October to December). They also appreciated the edible inner bark and the sweet edible gum exuding from wounds made while excising bark shields. The sweet shallow roots close to the tree were particularly favoured.
Christmas is a good time to relax, enjoy the company of family and friends and contemplate life. It is also a good time to appreciate the marvels of our natural world.
Hi, We have been researching Nuytsia floribunda for a long time & we're not quite convinced that the gum & the roots were in fact edible... We have tried both & found them both acrid & unpleasant in taste. We know there has been a lot written by people like Daisy Bates, Sarah Meagher & others but we have not found any conclusive scientific studies to determine whether these products of the Christmas tree (Nuytsia floribunda) were indeed edible. We believe that the edibility of the Christmas tree gum & roots and its alleged sweetness may have come from spurious anthropological information. Have you tried it? We look forward to your views on this. KM, Toodyay.
ReplyDelete