Killior'ra Tree Trail

Zelkova serrata

Distribution and habitat

 Native to Japan, Korea, Eastern China and Taiwan and planted ornamentally elsewhere.

Description

 Zelkova serrata is a medium-sized tree that typically grows to about 15 meters tall. It has a short trunk, with smooth greyish bark, and spreads out into many branches, forming a wide, round top. Its leaves are green in spring and summer, turning yellow, orange, and red in autumn. In spring, it produces small, yellow-green flowers followed by tiny fruit.

Interesting facts

Street trees have many benefits in urban environments. This particular tree was chosen to provide shade and cooling in summer whilst allowing sunlight and warmth to reach the urban landscape/streetscape in winter. This tree creates a shady canopy, helping to reduce urban heat. 

Environmental metrics

When I am fully grown I expect to:

• Grow to 15m tall.
• Clean your air by removing 831g of pollution every year.
• Provide 50m² of shade which is the equivalent of 16 beach umbrellas.
• Provide enough oxygen in a year, for the average person to breathe for 78 days.
• Sequester as much carbon in a year, as a car produces in 499km.
• Provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 222 days running an air conditioner. 

Corymbia citriodora

Distribution and habitat

The lemon-scented gum is found in along the eastern coastline of Australia in open forest and woodland. A small population is also found in Perth, Western Australia.

Description

Lemon-scented gums are large trees growing up to 50m tall. They are known for their smooth white, pink, copper, blue-grey bark and their long slender leaves which, when crushed, produce a strong lemon fragrance. The fruit is a barrel shaped capsules with valves.

Interesting facts

• The essential oils produced in this tree can be used in fragrances, medicines and insect repellents.
• Its flowers are important for honey production, with honeybees feasting on these trees during summer/autumn when white feathery flowers are present.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 32m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 5185g of pollution every year.
• I provide 439m² of shade which is the equivalent of 139 beach umbrella.
• I provide enough oxygen over a year for the average person to breathe for 5 days.
• In a year I sequester as much carbon as a car produces in 34km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 1395 days running an air conditioner. 

Jacaranda mimosifolia

Distribution and habitat

The jacaranda tree is native to sub-tropical South and North America. However, due to its attractive purple flowers, it has also been planted in many cities worldwide.

Description

The Jacaranda tree can grow up to 20 m tall. It thin grey-brown scaly bark and bi-pinnate leaves. It produces beautiful purple flowers in groups which are then followed by woody seed pods.

Interesting facts

• The trees in Sydney burst into bloom in spring from mid-October to later November. Streets in Sydney that are lined with Jacarandas become popular tourist destinations during this time.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 7m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 256g of pollution every year.
• I provide 46m² of shade which is the equivalent of 14 beach umbrella
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 75 days.
• I sequester as much carbon over one year as a car produces in 478km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 69 days running an air conditioner. 

Stenocarpus sinuatus

Distribution and habitat

The Fire Wheel is an Australian rainforest tree native to NSW and QLD. It is widely planted in other areas as an ornamental tree.

Description

The fire wheel can grow up to 40m tall. The tree has irregular greyish brown bark and unique leaves that are variable in shape with wavy margins. Most notable is the ornamental flowers which are bright red and in a circular formation, which is why it is called 'fire wheel'. Flowers are formed in February or March and the fruit matures between January and July.

Interesting facts

The bright red flowers attract nectar eating birds, bees, butterflies and other insects.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 6.5m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 91g of pollution every year.
• I provide 16m² of shade which is the equivalent of 5 beach umbrella
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 47 days.
• I sequester as much carbon in a year as a car produces in 304km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 24 days running an air conditioner. 

Ulmus glabra

Distribution and habitat

The Golden Elm is native to Britain and much of mainland Europe. It has been planted elsewhere due to its fast-growing nature and canopy cover.

Description

The Golden Elm can reach up to 15m tall. It a deciduous tree, meaning its leaves change colour and fall off in autumn, and creates a great shade canopy cover in summer.

Interesting facts

In parts of its natural range, the Golden Elm has been listed as a threatened species. It directly supports a wide range of species of lichens, fungi, insects and its decline is having a negative effect on many epiphytes and fungal specialists.

Environmental metrics

• I am 6.7m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 322g of pollution every year.
• I provide 53m² of shade which is the equivalent of 17 beach umbrella
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 119 days.
• I sequester as much carbon over one year as a car produces in 762km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 87 days running an air conditioner.

Callistemon viminalis

Distribution and habitat

The Weeping Bottle Brush mostly grows in and along water courses and in sandstone or granite country. Native to Eastern QLD and NSW and also parts of far-north and south-west WA.

Description

The Weeping Bottle Brushcan be found as a large shrub or a small tree growing up to 10m tall. It can have a number of trunks that are covered in hard, fibrous, furrowed bark. The leaves are small and elliptical, and its branches are pendulous or ‘weeping’. The flowers are bright red and arranged in spikes on the ends of branches. Each flower spike contains 15 to 50 individual flowers. Flowering is followed by a spike of woody capsules.

Interesting facts

• Adapted to survive strong currents during flood events, reducing erosion and improving the water quality in streams and rivers. Trees like these are important for our Water Sensitive City plan as all the urban runoff in Gordon eventually ends up into Lane Cove River.
• The bright red flowers are important food for wildlife such as Rainbow Lorikeets.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 6.6m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 137g of pollution every year.
• I provide 26m² of shade which is the equivalent of 8 beach umbrella
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 110 days.
• I sequester as much carbon over one year as a car produces in 708km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 37 days running an air conditioner. 

Angophora costata

Distribution and habitat

The Sydney Red Gum is native to QLD and NSW. It can be found in sandy soils and over sandstone. It has been planted ornamentally in Victoria.

Description

The Sydney Red Gum can grow up to 30m tall and has pink, smooth bark. The leaves are glossy green and paler green on their underside. The flowers are a creamy white colour and the fruit is an oval/bell-shaped capsule.

Interesting facts

• This species can live over 150 years old.
• Hollows in older specimens provide important breeding and roosting habitat for native fauna species.
• Flowering occurs between October and December each year and the flowers are an important food source for native fauna including the vulnerable Grey-headed Flying-foxes. The seeds are eaten by parrot species such as the Crimson Rosella.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 26m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 1183g of pollution every year.
• I provide 309m² of shade which is the equivalent of 98 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 399 days.
• I sequester as much carbon over one year as a car produces in 2550km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 316 days running an air conditioner. 

Eucalyptus saligna

Distribution and habitat

The Sydney Blue Gum is generally found within 120 km of the coastlines of NSW and lower QLD. It grows in tall forests on clay or loam soils and alluvial sands (from rivers).

Description

The Sydney Blue Gum can grow up to 30-55m tall. The truck of the tree is pale grey/white with a rough brown bark at the base. This tree has glossy green leaves and white flowers that are produced between December and March. The fruit produced is a woody cylindrical, cup-shaped capsule.

Interesting facts

• The Sydney Blue Gum is part of a Critically Endangered Ecological Community known as Blue Gum High Forest (BGHF). The combined area of Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest and BGHF once covered 46,000 hectares, but now, only 0.5% of the original forest remains in Ku-ring-gai due to land-clearing.
• Preserving this species is important as they can live up to 200 years old, producing many hollow-bearing branches. Taller, older trees can provide nesting sites for hollow-dependent fauna such as the vulnerable Glossy Black Cockatoo.
• The largest surviving remnant of BGHF is in St Ives around Dalrymple-Hay Nature Reserve and Browns Forest. This area remains undisturbed and you can see the landscape as the Aboriginal people and early European settlers would have seen it.
• These trees provide food for many species; Koalas eat the leaves, vulnerable Grey-headed Flying-foxes eat the flowers and the Crimson Rosella eats the seed.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 41m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 5466g of pollution every year.
• I provide 551m² of shade which is the equivalent of 175 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 10 days.
• I sequester as much carbon over one year as a car produces in 63km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 2290 days running an air conditioner. 

Banksia serrata

Distribution and habitat

Old Man Banksia trees can be found in well-drained sandy soils in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

Description

Old Man Banksia trees can grow in many forms including as shrubs and mis-shapen trees up to 16m tall. Cylindrical flower spikes are formed at the end of branchlets and these spikes are made up of hundreds of tiny flowers. Old flower spikes develop into cones.

Interesting facts

• Old man banksia has adapted to life in our harsh Australian Climate. The hard waxy leaves on the plant keep moisture inside and stop them from drying out. These are known as 'sclerophyllous leaves'. The Banksia’s woody fruit and seeds will stay protected in the woody shell until triggered to open by the heat of a bushfire, which most banksias rely on to germinate their seed.
• In Ku-ring-gai we have many banksia communities in our bushland which native wildlife use for food and shelter. This tree also has excellent flowers that produce abundant amounts of nectar which is a major food source for birds, insects and mammals including the vulnerable Eastern Pygmy-possum.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 6m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 195g of pollution every year.
• I provide 26m² of shade which is the equivalent of 8 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 51 days.
• I sequester as much carbon in one year as a car produces in 330km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 81 days running an air conditioner. 

Syncarpia glomulifera

Distribution and habitat

The Turpentine is found in eastern Queensland and New South Wales on the edges of rainforest and wet sclerophyll forests.

Description

The Turpentine can grow up to 45-55 metres high. It has thick brown fibrous bark with deep vertical furrows running down the trunk. The leaves have a dark green colour on top and a paler colour underneath. Cream-coloured flowers are produced from August to December. This is followed by the development of woody capsules that ripen in summer.

Interesting facts

• The Turpentine is part of a Critically Endangered Ecological Community known as the Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest (STIF). The combined area of STIF and Blue Gum High Forest once covered 46,000 hectares, but now, only 0.5% of the original forest remains due to land-clearing.
• Tall mature trees in the STIF provide nest hollows for Australia’s largest owl – the vulnerable Powerful Owl.
• The flowers are pollinated by native bees and the vulnerable Grey-headed Flying Fox. The Rainbow Lorikeet forages for nectar from the turpentine flowers.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 17.5m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 833g of pollution every year.
• I provide 45m² of shade which is the equivalent of 14 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 457 days.
• I sequester as much carbon in one year as a car produces in 2919km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 222 days running an air conditioner. 

Eucalyptus spp.

Interesting facts

• When we identify tree species, we use many features of the tree including its size, bark, fruit, flower and leaf size/shape and arrangement. This tree had varied features making identification tricky. The main characteristic which made identification tricky was the fruit of the tree which was not typical of one particular species.
• Eucalypts are known to hybridise very easily, meaning one species can crossbreed with another. This tree is possibly a hybrid of Eucalyptus piluaris and Eucalyptus acmenoides.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 33m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 3333g of pollution every year.
• I provide 573m² of shade which is the equivalent of 181 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 33 days.
• I sequester as much carbon over one year as a car produces in 213km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 1396 days running an air conditioner. 

Liquidambar styraciflua

Distribution and habitat

The Liquid Ambar tree grows naturally in the United States and Mexico. In Australia they are planted as ornamental trees in NSW, VIC and QLD.

Description

Liquid ambars are known for their star-shaped leaves and spikey round fruits. They can grow up to 20 metres tall.

Interesting facts

• They are deciduous trees meaning their leaves change colour to an impressive range of yellow, orange and red and fall off during autumn. During spring fresh green leaves will grow and provide shade during the summer.
• This tree is a great contributor to our canopy coverage which is important in combating urban heat. Ku-ring-gai Council has an Urban Forest Strategy which outlines the goal to increase overall canopy coverage to 49%. In Gordon the current canopy coverage is 43.88%.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 25m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 5090g of pollution every year.
• I provide 421m² of shade which is the equivalent of 133 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 9 days.
• I sequester as much carbon in one year as a car produces in 60km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 1996 days running an air conditioner.

Eucalyptus pilularis

Distribution and habitat

Blackbutt trees are mostly found on the coastlines of NSW and Southeastern NSW. Generally associated with wet sclerophyll or grassy coastal forests.

Description

Blackbutts can grow up to 70m tall. They have fine fibrous brown bark on the lower half of the trunk and white to cream colored bark above. The leaves are glossy green on both sides. Flowering occurs between January and April or between October and December. White flowers are produced and an oval capsule fruit is formed.

Interesting facts

• Ku-ring-gai is home to some of the tallest populations of Blackbutts. You can see them along the Blackbutt Creek Track in the Blackbutt Creek Reserve.
• The base of the tree is often fire scarred which is why it is called ‘Blackbutt’.
• Older specimens form many hollows, providing roosting and nesting habitat for a wide range of hollow dependent fauna.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 39m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 2502g of pollution every year.
• I provide 406m² of shade which is the equivalent of 129 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 591 days.
• I sequester as much carbon in one year as a car produces in 3782km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 1048 days running an air conditioner

Eucalyptus haemastoma

Distribution and habitat

The Scribbly Gum is native to Sydney, found between Lake Macquarie in the north and the Royal National Park in the south. It grows in woodland on shallow sandy soil which comes from sandstone.

Description

The Scribbly Gum is easily identified by its scribbles! Moth larvae embed themselves in the tree and tunnel between layers of bark creating the scribbles. Then each year the scribbles are revealed when the tree sheds old bark. The leaves are the same shade of green on both sides and the flowers are white. The fruit produced is a woody capsule. This tree can grow up to 15m tall.

Interesting facts

• This tree has a natural hollow. Hollows are formed as a result of wind breakage, lightning strike or fire and/or due to termite, insect or fungal attack. Hollows are important habitat for a variety of native animals including birds and marsupials.
• Small hollows, for animals such as the vulnerable Pygmy-possum can take 100 years to form, while large hollows, for animals such as the vulnerable Glossy Black Cockatoo can take up to 200 years to form. This highlights the need to keep older trees alive, not only for threatened species, but for a range of native animals as well.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 15m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 901g of pollution every year.
• I provide 115m² of shade which is the equivalent of 36 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 277 days.
• I sequester as much carbon in one year as a car produces in 1774km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 377 days running an air conditioner. 

Araucaria bidwillii

Distribution and habitat

The Bunya Pine is native to the south-east and north-east of QLD and is found in rainforest habitats.

Description

The Bunya Pine can grow up to 50m tall. A single trunk and branches arranged in whorls creates an egg-shaped silhouette. Its small, rigid leaves with sharp tips grow in pairs opposite each other along the branch, while its large cones, resembling rugby balls, contain edible seeds that measure between 2.5 to 5 cm in length.

Interesting facts

• The ancient Bunya Pine is a remnant of Gondwana land (ancient Australia). It’s thought that dinosaurs ate its fruit and that the tree protected itself with its very spiky leaves.
• Bunya nuts have been important for Aboriginal people in south-east Queensland for thousands of years for cooking and other cultural reasons. Aboriginal people love to eat the nutrient-rich bunya nuts as snacks.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 12.6m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 885g of pollution every year.
• I provide 67m² of shade which is the equivalent of 21 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 77 days.
• I sequester as much carbon in one year as a car produces in 499km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 371 days running an air conditioner. 

Lophostemon confertus

Distribution and habitat

The Brush Box is found in the coastal regions of QLD and Northern NSW. Its habitat ranges from moist open forest and rainforestecotones (transition area between different habitats).

Description

The Brush Box can grow up to 40 metres tall. It has dense dark green foliage which provides plenty of shade.

Interesting facts

• This area of St Johns Avenue is listed as a Heritage Conservation Zone. This area contains heritage values including its buildings, the 1867 cemetery and many historic structures such as a convict well-head and church hall. In addition, all trees in heritage conservation zones are listed and protected as a heritage item.
• St Johns Avenue was the first paved road in the area. In the 1920s, funding for the roadway paving was made possible by efforts of the St Johns Avenue Improvement Group. It is probable the avenue planting of brush box trees was also arranged by this committee.
• In the early development of Sydney, the Brush Box species was planted as street trees due to their shady nature, low upkeep and pest resistance. Since then, the trees have grown and developed, often needing to be trimmed as they reach the power lines. You can see many interestingly-shaped brush boxes for this reason.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 15m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 744g of pollution every year.
• I provide 111m² of shade which is the equivalent of 35 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 340 days.
• I sequester as much carbon in one year as a car produces in 2718km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 311 days running an air conditioner. 

Ficus obliqua

Distribution and habitat

The small-leaved fig tree can be found from southern NSW to Cape York Peninsula in QLD. It also grows in New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and the southwestern Pacific islands. It thrives in nutrient-rich, moist soils of warm temperate to subtropical rainforests, often growing above the canopy as very large trees.

Description       

The small-leaved fig is a tall tree growing up to 60m tall. It has a buttressed trunk (strengthened with columns of growth) up to 3 meters in diameter and glossy green elliptic leaves. Its fruit, known as syconia, are small, round, and yellow, turning orange red upon ripening.

Interesting facts

• Small-leaved figs are great for urban cooling. The enormous canopy provides a lot of shade.
• Typical of fig species, its flowers grow inside an internal cavity, and are pollinated by wasps. The fruit is highly prized by many native bird and mammal species – including the vulnerable Grey Headed Flying-fox.

Environmental metrics 

• I am 18m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 2705g of pollution every year.
• I provide 416m² of shade which is the equivalent of 132 beach umbrellas.
• I provide enough oxygen over one year for the average person to breathe for 65 days.
• I sequester as much carbon in one year as a car produces in 422km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 1133 days running an air conditioner.

Angophora floribunda

Distribution and habitat

The Rough-barked Apple tree is found across eastern Australia, from central QLD to eastern VIC, usually found in alluvial soils (from rivers), on shale or basalt rocks.

Description

The Rough-barked Apple tree can grow up to 30m tall, has fibrous grey bark and dull glossy green leaves. Cream-white flowers are produced between December to March.

Interesting facts

• It’s in the name for this species - 'Floribunda' means abundant-flowered. As such this species is an important resource for pollinators, especially the vulnerable Grey-headed Flying-fox. The Flying-fox is a threatened species crucial to the survival of ecosystems across the east coast of Australia due to their long distance flights achieving the furthest-reaching pollination of canopy trees.
• Only a few metres from our large Rough-barked Apple (Angophora floribunda) is the final resting place of Joseph Henry Maiden (1859-1925), the most well-known botanist of NSW.  His books, A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus (8 volumes) and his Forest Flora of New South Wales are still regarded as very important documents in Australian botanical science. He was nicknamed ‘The Little Giant’, due to his short stature but also because of his immense intellectual capacity. He was Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens for many decades and greatly influenced the course of Australian botany (study of plants). He studied hundreds of trees and flowers as part of his detailed research on all Australian plants.

Environmental metrics

• I am 23m tall.
• I clean your air by removing 2400g of pollution every year.
• I provide 295m² of shade which is the equivalent of 93 beach umbrella
• In a year I provide enough oxygen for the average person to breathe for XXX days.
• In a year I sequester as much carbon as a car produces in 85km.
• I provide an annual cooling effect equivalent to 1005 days running an air conditioner. 

Trees play an essential role in our urban environment and supporting a healthy ecosystem, which humans need to survive. Benefits include:

• Reducing urban heat and energy consumption.
• Reducing air pollution.
• Increasing land and property values.
• Increasing social health and wellbeing.
• Storing and sequestering carbon emissions.
• Producing oxygen.
• Stabilising land and reducing erosion.
• Reducing stormwater flows and nutrient loads.
• Increasing habitat, food and the green network for wildlife and therefore improving biodiversity.

Without street trees we would need other dedicated infrastructure to provide these services.

Council staff worked with experts to record the height, trunk diameter, and canopy measurements for each tree species. The i-Tree program was used to calculate each tree’s specific contribution to ecosystem services using established models for species-specific growth patterns, carbon absorption, and leaf area. Each species contributes differently to services like oxygen production and carbon sequestration, highlighting the importance of diversity in our urban forest.

For example, the lemon scented gum is 32m tall and provides oxygen for the average person to breathe for 5 days, while the Jacaranda is 7m tall and provides enough oxygen for 75 days. This is because different species perform differently in each area and we used more than physical measurements to work that out.

As you go through the trail, you’ll be able to read about each species of tree and how they add different benefits to the local environment, highlighting the importance of biodiversity. 

Killior’ra is the local indigenous name for the Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera), a common forest tree that dominated the original vegetation of this area. In 1805, naturalist George Caley in company with his companion and friend Dharug man ‘Dan’ Moowattin made a return journey on foot from Pennant Hills to Narrabeen Lagoon on their ‘journey to the sea’.

On this and other exploration trips, even into the then unexplored Blue Mountains, this remarkable duo discovered, collected and documented a number of native plants and animals - this being the first ‘overland’ trip across the ridges and forest-clad gullies of Ku-ring-gai. Moowattin’s indigenous knowledge enabled George Caley to gain very special insights into our incredible biodiversity.

A list of native plants on this trip was documented by Caley - with both scientific and Aboriginal names.  This was the very first time that ‘western’ knowledge and the long-term Aboriginal cultural knowledge was aligned and well ahead of any other such scientific ventures by many decades. The well-known Caley’s Grevillea (Grevillea caleyi) was first collected on this trip.

This duo forged the foundations of knowledge of the colony’s natural ‘green’ treasures. A few years later, Moowattin, in the company of Caley, journeyed to England. He was just the third Aboriginal person to visit England.

As we walk along the trail, we can only imagine what the landscape would have been like in 1805 - no houses, no streets - just the untouched bushland. We can also remember George Caley and Moowattin’s journey and discovery and wonder at their incredible findings.

Unfortunately, no images exist of either George Caley or “Dan’ Moowattin exist – but they will always be remembered for their remarkable friendship and establishing the baseline for our studies of our natural environment.

Caley and Moowattin’s 1805 ‘Journey to the Sea’ (across Ku-ring-gai LGA)