"One man's meat is another man's poisson", (sorry, poison).
Given the wide membership of birding-aus, it may be pertinent to point out
that "exotic" for Martin is not necessarily exotic for all of us: it's a
native tree up this way.
Selwyn Everist ("Poisonous Plants of Australia", Angus & Robertson, 1974,
page 322) gives its distribution as "native to rainforests in eastern
Australia from northern NSW to North Qld and extends into the Kimberleys in
WA, and New Guinea". (See also Flora of South-eastern Queensland, Stanley &
Ross, Qld Dept. of Primary Industries, 1983; page 477).
Melia azedarach var. australasica, (aka M. dubia) with vernacular names of
White Cedar, Cape Lilac, Tulip Cedar, and Karabil, as well as China Berry,
occurs in rainforest in coastal districts of south-eastern Queensland. In
addition to confirming the poisonous nature of the fruits, the Flora says
the bark is said to have been used by Aborigines as a fish poison.
White Cedar (the name by which I have known it) has highly figured wood
useful as a cabinet wood. (It grows up to 45 m in its native rainforest.)
"Weed" has been defined as any plant "out of place". I don't doubt M.
azedarach is a 'weed' in Richmond (Melbourne).
Cheers.
Syd
> From:
> Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 08:18:08 +1100
> To:
> Subject: Re: [BIRDING-AUS] red tailed blacks and Melia azedarach
>
>
> Just a short note about the introduced Chinaberry tree (Melia azedarach)
> which is from asia.
>
> As a Richmond (Melbourne) resident, I made submissions to our council
> requesting them to avoid using exotic trees, where ever this was
> inappropriate, in the planned revegetation of the Yarra Council area. This
> included using Melia spp. which are planned for our streetscapes near
> home.
>
> Part of my argument against this species was the toxic nature tree parts
> (fruits and leaves) and the fact they drop numerous very hard fruit on the
> ground, which then become a hazard to elderly and disabled people (acting
> like ball bearings!).
>
> Interesting to note that the symptoms in humans are - stomach irritation,
> vomiting, bloody diarrhea, paralysis, irregular breathing, and respiratory
> distress (if large quantities are eaten or tea made from the leaves!).
>
> If these plants are recommended for planting for black-cockatoo use, I
> guess it may be another example of cockatoos eating things which do not
> poison them (?).
>
> Interested in anyones comments/thoughts on this.
>
> Martin O'Brien
> Melbourne
>
> Some further information on the toxic properties etc of this tree can be
> found at:
> http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Meliaaz.htm
> http://ag.arizona.edu/pima/gardening/aridplants/Melia_azedarach.html
> http://daffodil.plantbio.uga.edu/PPG/Plant%20Summary%20Pages/melia_azederach.h
> tm
>
>
>
>
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