By Emma Rooksby, the coordinator of Growing Illawarra Natives

The Cheese Tree (Glochidion ferdinandi) is a lovely thing, particularly at the moment when many plants are in full fruit and covered in their colourful pinkish-red, very vaguely cheese-like capsules. 

Cheese Trees are some of the most widespread rainforest trees of the region. I see them at all sizes in gardens, on verges and in parks, not to mention in natural areas. Many have been planted at some stage, while many more are, by my reckoning, self-sown.

This species is clearly adaptable and resilient, coping in some pretty harsh urban settings. You've probably walked past one or two, or a few, on Illawarra streets. Good places to see them include the eastern end of Murphy's Avenue, where there's a row of Cheese Trees in the small memorial park, Foothills Road in Balgownie, where the tree pictured below is located, and planted along the easternmost end of Murray Road in Corrimal, where they're just starting to come into their own.

But I'm constantly coming across them all round town. One of the more striking locations was at the Unanderra shops, where there's a couple of little Cheese Trees in the car park (more please!). I'll have to visit again, as these plants look to be managed to certain size and shape, and they're certainly not typical of Glochidion ferdinandi growing in natural conditions. 

As I said above, the fruit of this tree are very appealing and add to the charm of the tree as a whole. Right now most local Cheese Trees are in fruit. The image below shows some more or less ripe fruit in the foreground, and a few paler or even greenish fruit in the background, which are still developing. The next stage after this pretty pink blush stage is that the fruit, a dry capsule, splits open to reveal the bright orange seeds inside. 

The fruit are attractive to a wide range of birds, including pigeons, parrots and Olive-backed Orioles. The Growing Illawarra Natives photo collection includes a picture from local horticulturist and photographer Anthony Wardle showing a Nankeen Night Heron in a Cheese Tree.

Keep an eye out for Cheese Trees in your neighbourhood, they'll be easier to spot than usual at the moment, thanks to all those lovely fruit.