Rainforest Tree of the Month – May 2019 – Native Gardenia

While citrus trees around Paluma are full of fruit at present, providing sustenance more to the Cockatoos than human residents, there is also a native rainforest tree/shrub that is currently laden with large round fruit that are beginning to turn yellow or bright orange. From a distance the fruit looks very much like an orange. This is the Native Gardenia or Yellow Mangosteen (Atractocarpus fitzalanii – previously known as Randia fitzalanii1)

Native Gardenia is a native under-story tree in eastern Queensland rainforests. The star-shaped white flowers appear in spring and (unsurprisingly) look at bit like simple gardenia flowers (they share the same family) and have a pleasant perfume.

The fruit is edible and is reported to be good bush tucker2. It can be eaten raw or used in salads, tarts, cakes or other deserts. In fact one author reports that it is one of the few plants that was consumed for is aphrodisiac properties!1 Cassowaries also eat the fruit, but the literature is silent on whether these birds also use it to enhance their reproductive drive. Perhaps you should exercise caution if you see a large male Cassowary with a gleam in its eye when you visit our local grove!

The Native Gardenia is fairly commonly sold in nurseries for its lush foliage and perfumed flowers. The fruit can be quite sweet in some trees but this is quite variable. I confess I have not sampled the fruit but Wilfred had a quick taste of the one at Jourama Falls and found it unremarkable.

Text and photos by Jamie Oliver

1 trin.org.au
2 tuckerbush.com.au

PDCA Social Calendar for 2019

Listed below are the social events that the PDCA is organising for the year. The PDCA has decided to add a few new themed nights this year as well as continuing with popular ones from previous years. We hope they will be a success and encourage you to put these dates into your calendar.

Sat 8th June: Soup and Casserole – Country Music night with dress in jeans and check shirt etc.

Sat. 10th August: Dance the Night Away with music suitable dancing and a theme of “Glamour and Glitz”.

Sat. 2nd November: Music from Around the World with International Food as a theme.

Sat. 7th December: Tropical BBQ with Music from the Pacific . BYO meat as usual.

Sat. 14th March 2020: St Patrick’s Irish Night

Follow the Green Brick Road…….

Everyone’s heard of the ‘Yellow Brick Road’, but have you seen Paluma’s Green Brick Road?…………Ok, so it’s not a road, but it is a winding driveway in the brightest shade of green!.

At No. 13 Lennox Crescent the paved drive-way is covered in thick green moss, which at certain times of the day and at differing lights appears to be fluorescent green.

While many Paluma residents lament the endless cleaning of mould, mildew, algae, lichen, moss and many other creepy-crawly plants and organisms from inside and outside their homes, the moss at No. 13 Lennox Crescent is a great example of how attractive these spreading, growing mediums can be.

Residents John and Kay report that numerous attempts over many years to clean the moss from the drive-way have proved fruitless. The moss always regrows and it has won out in the end. Now, they just leave it to grow and thrive in the damp cool mountain air. In places, it forms a dense mat of green and is spongy under foot to walk on.

The drive-way at No. 13 Lennox Crescent is no ordinary drive-way. John says that this access track was first cleared by the Americans during World War 2. John and Kay paved the drive-way some 30 years ago with recycled bricks they got from other Paluma residents, Chris and Merle.

If you follow this ‘Green Brick Road’ you will just end up at John and Kay’s place, but next time you take a walk along Lennox Crescent take a moment to admire their unique and very green moss-covered drive-way!

Loop Road Upgrade Completed

The upgrade work to the retaining wall at the Loop Road at Paluma has been completed. Over a period of two weeks, Contractors for Townsville City Council were very busy erecting a new steel and concrete retaining wall along the road margins. The completion of this work sees a big improvement to the overall appearance and aesthetics of the Loop Road and the access to McClelland’s Lookout. The new wall also enhances the safety, road drainage and maintenance issues for this area.

Jamie Oliver (PDCA President) commented recently “in discussions with our local Councillor, Margie Ryder, this was highlighted as a top priority for action by the PDCA over the last couple of years. Many thanks to Margie, who championed this issue and was able to source funding for it from the $600 million Works for Queensland (W4Q) program that supports regional Councils to undertake job-creating maintenance and minor infrastructure projects”.

LOOP ROAD UPGRADE

The Loop Road at Paluma is finally getting a face lift.

Anyone who has visited McClellands’s Lookout and the various walking tracks via the Loop Road in recent years will have noticed that the margins of the roadway were looking very much the worse for wear.  The old wooden sleeper retaining walls along the roadway were mostly collapsed, termite infested and dilapidated. Old sleepers, soil and vegetation were strewn along the roadside and not only was this very unsightly, but the drainage of stormwater from the roadway was impeded during heavy rainfall.

The work being undertaken at the Loop Road includes the installation of a new retaining wall made from steel posts, concreted into the ground along a concrete base and drainage channel. A permanent retaining wall of concrete ‘sleepers’ is being erected between the steel posts. 

This appears to be a great solution to what has been one of Paluma’s less attractive spots and an ongoing maintenance problem. The new retaining wall will be a termite proof, permanent and attractive solution, at the same time managing drainage and water flow from the roadway. 

Contractors for Townsville City Council are undertaking the upgrade works and be aware that the northern end of the road is closed to vehicles during this work. The main car park and walking track to McClelland’s Lookout remain open.

Some views of the new retaining wall under construction are shown below.

Bush Dance & Paluma Market

There are two upcoming events at Paluma to mark in the calendar for the month of June………..!

The Wattle ‘n’ Gum Bush Band invite everyone to attend their annual Bush Dance at the Paluma Community Hall on Saturday 29th June at 7.30 PM. Details are provided in the flyer below.

After dancing the night away, you can then catch up on your shopping at the Paluma Sunday Market on Sunday 30th June between 9 AM to 1 PM. Celebrate the end of the financial year with a sausage or two at the PDCA Sausage Sizzle.

We are looking for new stall holders for the Paluma Sunday Market so if you have some goods to sell please contact Lynn Hyland at email address: lynnhyland@optusnet.com.au

See you there!

Another Day In Paradise….

An early morning walk to Mc Clellands’s Lookout at Paluma is always a treat, but especially so at this time of the year. With the humidity and cloudy skies of summer and the wet season now gone, the early mornings are crisp and clear, without a cloud in the sky.

For the first time this year, the temperature dipped to single digits on Sunday morning (12 May) with a cool 9 degrees in the village.  Gone is the heat-haze of summer, so that the view from the Lookout is particularly special. So clear is the view of the coast and offshore islands that you can clearly see their outline and you can even identify each individual island – especially with the assistance of the interpretive signage from the Lookout’s best vantage point.   

There is no better place at Paluma village to sit and contemplate the view, whilst thawing out and soaking up the warmth of the sun’s early morning rays. On Sunday morning the visit to the Lookout was enhanced by the sound of dingoes calling from somewhere downslope, deep within the rainforest. With the cool clear air, the eerie sound of their calls seemed to carry for miles. 

A cup of lemon myrtle tea and a slice of mandarin and almond cake at the Rainforest Inn topped off a rather delightful early morning stroll.

Just another day in the paradise we know as Paluma.