Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Moreton Bay Figs in the Gardens


Just inside the Edwards Street entrance to the City Botanic Gardens, on the Alice Street side of the walkway, there are a number of magnificent fig trees which are incredibly mature. Known as Moreton Bay Figs, one of the main features is the habit of having aerial roots. These drop from the overhead branches and form supplementary trunks, giving further support to the overall tree structure.

There are several trees dotted throughout the gardens, and several throughout Brisbane and the surrounding suburbs. The more mature trees are spectacular, and can provide vast shade to the hot sun here. Some of the trees in the gardens are apparently over 150 years old. The look of the aerial roots make some people consider that the trees are "melting".


As you can see, the large supportive trunk structures provides a fantastic hiding place and maze for kids. My kids love to run around these trees and hide as I yell for them to "Get out of there!" This of course results in yells back of "No, come and find us if you want us!"

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

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2 comments:

Melody said...

They're great those trees. They are pretty amazing, especially when you come up from 'down south' ie. Melbourne. Cairns and Townsville have lots of these trees and I suspect most major towns along the QLD coast do too.

carrie said...

My kids would loooove those trees! Very cool...maybe someday we'll be able to see them in person!

BTW, your new blog is sooo cool. Great photos and text! Thanks for all the info on such a beautiful city, Angry Dad!!

Carrie