Neighbours’ Plants (The horticultural version of Neighbours)

In the Clarinda Community, bordering Clayton and Oakleigh, the suburb is filled generally with street trees of native origin. A stroll around the neighbourhood, starting from home, takes me past the court which is filled with Purple Leaf Plum (Prunus cerasifera). Dark leaved blossom trees with grey bark and a haunting appearance when leaves are completely shed.

 

  

As I head to the nameless park, I notice that almost everyone has a Bottlebrush (Callistemon) as a street tree. Fruiting capsules are visible as the flowers have long passed. I once saw a Callistemon with orange ‘flowers’ and purple anthers. After a re-visit a fortnight later, it morphed into the usual red colour which was slightly disappointing…

 

 There are a few Wattles (Acacia), and Gum Trees (Eucalyptus) every now and then, but Callistemon is always the dominant street tree with its ‘fuzzy’ looking leaflets from afar and papery bark which peels itself away.

Finally arriving at the nameless park, here Eucalypts are favoured with the company of Drooping She-oaks (Allocasuarina verticillata); the great trees have flowing branchlets which reflect the appearance of thousands of hanging green caterpillars which sway with the wind. Surprisingly, She-oaks are used to stabilize poor soils because they have nitrogen fixing bacteria on their root nodules quiet similar to those of legumes.    

According To the final version of the Kingston city’s significant tree register; commonly used trees in the Clarinda/ Clayton South area include:

-Genus/ species: Calodendron capense

Common Name: Cape Chestnut

-Genus/ species: Eucalyptus muelleriana

Common Name: Yellow Stringybark

and

-Genus/ species: Banksia marginata

Common Name: Silver Banksia