Re: Silk Floss tree in flower
- To: medit-plants
- Subject: Re: Silk Floss tree in flower
- From: G* B*
- Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 08:43:21 +0200
>This sounds so wonderful- I really must make a North trip to see this and
>other lovely Bay Area gardens! Today we were looking out at our young (but
>remarkably tall) Silk Floss tree. Planted out from a five gallon container
>five years ago it's at least 26' high. It's not yet flowering that much,
and
>I may have found out why. A flock of screeching green parrots just came
>through and ate what few blossoms we had! Ahh Los Angeles. Mutant Ninja
>Parrots, escapees no doubt.
Hi All
I once worked for a while in the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens which is right
on the Tropic of Capricorn in Australia. There were two enormous, mature
specimens of this there & a wonderous sight in full flower. With the cup
arrangement of the flowers, the nectar would accumulate & start to ferment.
The local parrots & lorrikeets would come in & start feeding in the early
morning & get progressively more inebriated through the day. By nightfall
they'd be really noisy & quarralsome, ripping the flowers apart & fighting
amongst themselves. Definitely liked it though as they'd be back each day
for more.
The South African Boerbean - Schotia brachypetala - was also used as a
street tree there, with similar results. Known locally as the pissed parrot
tree. The brew must have been far more lethal though as the birds could sup
it up to the point of incapacity & fall out of the trees dead drunk. The
neighbourhood kids & cats would cruise around the trees at the end of the
day to see what they could find.
Regards
Glenn Breayley. Ragnarok & Valhalla Research.
POBox 26158, Hout Bay, 7872, Capetown, South Africa
Ph/Fax SA 021 7904253 E-mail valhalla@iafrica.com
Wholesale nurseryman & Tillandsia specialist wholesale & retail grower.
