Pioneer Plants

image: Pioneer Plants
If you are starting a rainforest the land needs to be prepared before you add in the more iconic lush rainforest varieties. This is where Pioneer plants come in they add nutrients with good root structures and often will die and create plant litter. These Pioneer plants are the start of your rainforest.

Hovea acutifolia - Purple Pea Bush

A small to medium evergreen Australian shrub that gets small 1cm purple flowers in Aug to Sep. Leaves are green on top with a golden brown underside.

Brachychiton populneus - Kurrajong

A hardy tree for drier sites frequently grown for shade or stock fodder. Trees have a straight stout trunk and produce cream flowers in spring. Indigenous Australians used the bark fibres to make rope and string, the wood was used for fire sticks. A common tree in drier rainforests.

Buckinghamia celcissima - Ivory Curl Tree

This tall shrub or small tree flowers in its third year. It is often grown as a street tree or specimen where its sweetly scented cream flower spikes can be appreciated. Retains its compact shape when grown in full sun. Frost tender when young.

Grevillea robusta - Silky Oak

Very fast growing slender tree with ferny foliage and bright yellow toothbrush flowers. Grows in a wide range of conditions including southern and inland areas. Good indoor plant.

Flindersia schottiana - Cudgerie

Fast growing tall tree with large leaves and up-turned branches. Hardy in most conditions but prefers plenty of moisture. One of the best pioneer trees. A butterfly attracting tree.

Hymenosporum flavum - Native frangipani

A fast growing, Australian native rainforest tree bearing terminal clusters of very fragrant, cream flowers that age to a golden yellow. Highly recommended hardy specimen tree.

Myrsine variabilis - Muttonwood

The muttonwood is a bird attracting shrub or small tree, it can grow to 15m in it natural state but is more commonly seen as a 2-3 m shrub in cultivation. It makes a fantastic screen with its bird attractind small blue fruits.

Alphitonia Petriei - Pink Ash

Very fast small to medium tree. Excellent pioneer species with open crown of rounded green leaves with silver backs. Bird attractive. Full sun.

Castanospermum australe - Black bean

An attractive tree with glossy dark green foliage and profuse flushes of yellow and red pea-like flowers during summer. The green seeds of the black bean pod are poisonous. The timber is highly prized. Bird attracting. 40m

Mallotus discolour - Yellow Kamala

Native to regrowth and rainforest areas form the Clarence River NSW to Townsville. A compact admirable garden tree to 15 m with bright yellow fruits, can be used as a yellow dye.

Acronychia oblongifolia - Common Acronychia

A small to medium rainforest tree with striking bright white fruit that is produced during autumn and winter. A good food source for birds and can be eaten by humans, although they are quite acid. The leaves emit a pleasant smell when crushed. 12m

Sandpaper fig - Birds Eye

A outstanding selection of the native Sandpaper fig. Large, flavoursome, red fleshed fig. Heavy cropping and no splitting in wet weather. Ideal fig selection for wet coastal areas.

Elaeocarpus grandis - Blue Quandong

A prominently buttressed based tree with an open layered crown. Birds and marsupials are attracted to the bright blue fruits that have a thin covering of flesh surrounding a seed that resembles a ‘brain’. Ripen August to January. 35m

Stenocarpus sinuatus - Firewheel Tree

This beautiful tree is planted all around the world but is naturally endemic to the rainforests of Qld and NSW. The name Wheel of Fire comes from the red flowers that resemble a flattened wheel. The timber is used for cabinetwork. To 30m

Australian Daphne

Dense Evergreen small to medum tree with sweetly perfumed cream flowers september to november, followed by showy orange berries in winter. Shiny navy-margined leaves.

Scentless Rosewood

This is a very bushy tree used in regrowth areas. It features reddish-brown, fine and scaly and a distinctive aqua hue to some of the flakes. The trunk is often crooked. The red fruit is an important food tree for birds during the spring months.

Alphitonia excelsa - Red Ash

This tree is a natural coloniser in a wide range of conditions. Fruits are round and black and the mealy flesh encloses two hard capsules. These usually fall, leaving red seeds attached to the twigs for months.

Cupaniopsis anacardioides - Tuckeroo

An attractive, fast growing and hardy small to medium tree well suited to coastal areas. Good wildlife food source. Makes a excellent street tree or pioneer in reforestation.

Erythrina vespertilio - Batswing coral

Scarlet pea-flowers in spring occur usually when the tree is leafless. Birds are attracted to the showy flowers. 6 to 10 metres