Polyscias elegans (Celery Wood)
Celery Wood is common along the Illawarra escarpment. It often comes up as a small plant from seed probably dropped by currawongs and bower birds that feed on the fruits during the summer season.
The deer eat it when small, and once it gets to about a metre and a half it loses its low lateral branches and thus becomes a favourite ringbarking tree. The only solution is to put a wire mesh cage with two star posts around a small tree, and with larger ones, wrapping flower or chicken wire around the trunk.
Celery Wood has grey and slightly rough bark. Its pinnate leaf pattern and purple fruit is distinctive and easy to spot in a canopy.
Weed of the Month
Tradescantia fluminensis (Trad)
This is a fleshy creeper from South America that used to go under the name of Wandering Jew.
It tends to crowd out other native ground covers. It has succulent dark green leaves with purplish stems and white flowers. It is difficult to eradicate because it breaks off easily from the roots and then regrows. It has a native lookalike, Commelina (Commelina Cyanea), which has blue flowers.
I used to pull out Trad, but don’t anymore where there are deer around because they love it. I watched a big buck gorging on it recently while ignoring some small native trees that I planted and which they had eaten before in other Trad-free places.
