By James Wall
Am at Mount Coolum in SE Queensland and driving down the road towards my accommodation I see this good looking thing. It is tall with a shady appearance and has the most vivid orange flowers I have ever seen. It's like a lighthouse every time I drive past. After checking with a local I find it is in fact a tree called the African Tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata). Well, I was pretty impressed, until he told me it was a weed and that when the flowers fall on wet concrete, it is dangerously slippery - yes, this trees even got OH&S issues! A quick check with the QLD Dept of Primary Industries and yes, it is a Class 3 declared plant under Queensland legislation. "It infests gullies, vegetation around waterways and disturbed rainforest". It is an even bigger problem in Nth Qld and is also a problem in Hawaii. So much for good looks.
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