with Junior Reporter Polly Deppeler
It’s spring which means everything is in bloom! It’s a wonderful sight but not all the pretty views are beneficial for the environment.
One of these beautiful but invasive trees is the ‘African Tulip Tree’. The African tulip tree is native to tropical Africa. It is popular as an ornamental garden tree or street tree in tropical and subtropical parts of Queensland due to its showy, red tulip-shaped flowers. African tulip trees are a serious environmental weed in Coastal Queensland, where they are highly invasive and overtaking. African Tulip trees are extremely harmful to native sting-less bees and a safety hazard to pedestrians if planted on foot paths (Their flowers can create a slippery surface when dropped on the ground!).
Although these trees are beautiful, they are also highly invasive and can widely spread by their seeds from just one planting. Areas at risk are places with gullies, vegetation and disturbed rainforests. The Australian Government or agriculture recommends that you remove all trees if they are around or near your home.
Want to know what they look like? African Tulip trees are an evergreen tree meaning that they never lose their leaves. They can grow up to 24 metres in height and has broadly oval-shaped leaves. Flowering mostly occurs in Spring but can occur all year round. It doesn’t spread a lot by leaves and seeds but it mostly spreads by people planting it in their gardens as an ornamental.
To get rid of this species, you can dig them out when the soil is moist. Because there are no herbicide products specifically registered for the control of African tulip tree in Queensland. However, a permit held by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries allows people generally to use some herbicide products to control African tulip tree as an environmental weed in various situations.
Further information is available from your local government office, or by contacting Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 or visit biosecurity.qld.gov.au
