By Beatrice Hawkins
Last Sunday 29 July was National Tree Planting Day, so I thought some more about trees I have heard about or known, was appropriate.
One I have heard of recently is the ‘drumstick’ tree and the idea intrigues me as it appears to be extremely useful.
The botanical name is Moringa Oleifera, while the common name comes from the appearance of the long seed pods. Other common names are ‘horseradish tree’ as the roots apparently taste like horseradish, and the ‘benzoil’ tree, for the oil derived from the seeds.
It is a hardy, drought-resistant tree native to the southern Himalayan region of India but will grow in a wide variety of climates. It will tolerate a wide range of soil types but prefers a slightly acidic sandy loam. It is fast-growing and deciduous and can reach a height of 10 to 12 metres with a trunk up to about 45cm in diameter. It is suitable to arid regions but does not like frost so, unless you have a protected area, it’s not suitable for us.
In areas like ours, it would need to be pruned annually to shrub size (1 to 2 metres) and this would also allow easy harvesting of the young leaves and seed pods which are used as a vegetable.
The small, creamy white, fragrant flowers appear about six months after planting from cuttings or seed and it only flowers once a year in cooler areas. The flowers grow in hanging, drooping clusters up to about 25cm long and are used in some recipes.
The leaves are very nutritious and used similarly to spinach. The immature pods are used in curries and the mature seeds roasted like nuts or eaten like peas. The oil extracted from the seeds is clear and odourless and is used in cooking. The roots are ground and used as a condiment.
The leaves are a good source of iron and vitamin C. The seeds and pods are high in dietary fibre, potassium, magnesium and manganese. The tree is recognised as one of the most useful and nutritious trees known and although it is not really suited to our area because of its many uses and the arid areas where it can be grown, I thought it was very interesting.
Another tree I have seen lately in my travels is the ‘Fiddlewood’ tree, Citharexylum Spinosum. It is a fast-growing, dense tree to about 10 to 12 metres. It is native to the West Indian region and is grown for its lovely salmon coloured springtime growth and the small, wonderfully perfumed, creamy white flowers from midsummer to autumn and early winter. The flowers are very attractive to bees, birds and butterflies and the tree I saw was absolutely covered in bees! With the drought so bad there was little else around to attract them.
It likes a sunny position but will grow in some shade. It provides very dense shade so you should be careful not to plant it where it will affect your neighbour’s property. Protection from frosts when young is necessary but will withstand some frost when established. The ones I saw are certainly in an area that would get medium frosts.
The common name refers to the use of the timber for sounding boards in musical instruments.
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Music to the ears
As these trees were both ‘musical’ I thought I’d see what others I could find that were used in the production of musical instruments.
The first I found was the Pau Brasil, the national tree of Brazil, an endangered species, as during the 19th century it was harvested extensively for use in fabric dyeing. This tree is considered essential for the making of violin bows and it is an extremely wasteful process as it takes at least one kilogram of wood per bow! Because of these two factors I doubt it will be off the endangered list anytime soon.
Honduran Rosewood is another ‘musical’ timber as it is an extremely dense wood and ideal for use in xylophones.
Mpingo is a wood exported from sub-Saharan Africa to make woodwind instruments from clarinets to bagpipes in Europe. It is native to Tanzania and is considered an endangered species. It is a slow-growing, twisted, small tree with very dense wood and almost black heartwood. It can take 70 to 100 years for a tree to reach a stage ready for harvesting for instrument-making.
Cedar, Spruce Rosewood, Maple and Cherry are some of the more common woods used also in assorted instruments.
Of course, my preference for a tree to plant would be any one of a number of our wonderful natives.
Bottlebrush, Grevilleas, Wattles and Banksias would be high on the list for a good garden tree for a town block. There are so many varieties of all of these that all tastes for size and colour could be accommodated.
Have fun and plant a tree any day, not just on National Tree Planting Day, if you have the space!
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue.
