The tiny fruit of the Chinese Pistacio are attracting Gang-gangs in South Canberra. However a less-admired exotic is also bearing unobtrusive fruit. This is the abundant Celtis, what Lindsay Pryor calls ‘southern nettle tree or micocoulier’. My main association of this tree is as shade cover in small towns in the south of France for outdoor bar patrons and watchers of boule on hot summer days. Pryor describes this as ‘an excellent street tree’, mature specimens being found in Eyre St, Kingston, near Green Square, and elsewhere. Perhaps he overlooked the widespread relocating of the species by birds – through nature parks and other suburban spaces, and in particular domestic gardens. We have had dozens of the things come up under trees used by birds, and if you don’t uproot them early on they can be hard to get rid of. I notice a few behind the JWNR HQ, around the old dairy. Cockatoos are feeding on them now. There is quite a bit of folklore associated with the species, as noted in the following Wikipedia extract:
