Tuesday 26 February 2013

ABC Wednesday, G for Gum Tree



















Many of us know the song:"Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree..."And we also heard about the
koala eating gum tree leaves.The gum tree  is a Eucalyptus and typical of the Australian flora.
Steve Parish, the wellknown photographer, has dedicated a photobook to this "Gum Tree". He says that the humble gum tree captures the essence of the Australian homeland.
There are over 700 species of eucalypts which dominate an enormous range of the Australian environments. He also says that the mighty eucalyptus is the tallest flowering plant on Earth.

Wikipedia says:
" Ghost Gum, is an evergreen tree that is native to Central Australia.
It grows up to 20 metres in height and has smooth, white to cream and pink-tinged bark, which sheds seasonally in thin scales. White flowers appear in summer and the fruit are woody brown goblet shaped, valved capsules. The tree features in aboriginal Dreamtime stories and gained prominence with the wider public in the 20th century through the paintings of aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira."

Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree...



 How important the gum trees are for the indigenous people proves the next newspaper item:

"Two ghost gum trees made famous by the work of Australian Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira have been  destroyed in a suspected arson attack.
The trees, regarded by indigenous leaders as living spirits, had been due to be added a national heritage register as they are widely viewed as a symbol of Australian identity."

Painting by Albert Namatjira

 We thank Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and we must thank Roger too for the weekly job to find  ten bloggers for each of the ABC Team members  to visit and to read their posts. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words    beginning with G , in our new round.





Photobook by Steve Parish


















Eucalyptus flowers
















25 comments:

Sylvia K said...

Wonderful captures of such a beautiful tree, Wil!! Always a delight to read your posts, see your photos of your world and always a delightfully different look at the ABCx!!

Roger Owen Green said...

I love that song!

Leslie: said...

Now you've got me singing in my head! Such a fun song and great info about the tree and its flowers!

Leslie
abcw team

Cloudia said...

Always a delight, Wil



ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° > <3

anthonynorth said...

This reminds me of an old saying when I was young: stuck up a gum tree. Doubt if it had anything to do with the real thing, though.

photowannabe said...

Love the photos of the Gum tree.
The flowers are lovely too.
The Euclyptus tree is so messy when it sheds.
We had many of that kind of tree where we use to live and had to constantly pick up after them. They were in the garden two houses from us and seemed to like ours better.

Marleen said...

En de bladeren van de eucalyptusboom geuren ook zo heerlijk. Mooie foto's Wil!

Carver said...

Great shots of the gum trees and an interesting post.

Hildred said...

Beautiful tree, and such wonderful pictures, both painted and photographed.

Anonymous said...

Great song and beautiful photography ~ Wonderful post for G ^_^

Ann said...

The bark is so unique, the colors all so pretty and soft. The shapes are so wonderful.
Ann

Kate said...

Thank you for the informative post with beautiful photos. By gum, I am always pleased when a fellow blogger educates me! Kate, ABC Team

AmitAag said...

Great Gum tree!
http://amitaag.blogspot.in/2013/02/grey-and-green.html

Chubskulit Rose said...

Kookaburra, one of my children;'s favorite song when they were little.

Gums and Gummies
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team.

LONDONLULU said...

Gorgeous captures and now you've Got me singing that Great little song in my head! :)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Beautiful tree -- and no wonder the photographer found enough about it for a whole book. Thanks for sharing the information as well as the lovely pictures.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

laugh Kookabara laugh. One of the few songs I learned in Borneo when I started school.

Anonymous said...

looks like a great tree to climb

my g post for this week:
gripping girdle limerick

Anonymous said...

What gorgeous shots and memories from Oz.

Redlane Geraine said...

this is an interesting post about the gum tree.

i love that picture of Tasmania in your header, reader wil.

here my entry:
http://www.redlanegeraine.com/2013/02/angel-in-sky.html

Arkansas Patti said...

Thank you so much for stopping by Wil. For some reason you have not shown up on my reading list lately. I thought you might have quit blogging when you went to Australia. So glad you are still here. I will reenter your information and see if that corrects the situation.
I love the trunk formations on that gum tree.

Dina said...

Wil, your blog does not show up on my reading list anymore either.

Thanks for the info and pics of the mighty gum trees.
" the tallest flowering plant on Earth"--I never thought of that. Cool!

Vicki Lane said...

We sang that song in Girl Scouts -- sixty years ago.

There is also a song here in thhe southern US -- Possum Up a Gum Tree. But our gum tree is a Sweet Gum AKA (I think) Liquidamber.

A most interesting post, Wil!

Kay said...

I didn't know gum trees were eucalyptus. That is such a fun fact. Thank you. I love the songs.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

I LOVE gun trees, there is something special about their leaves, flowers, gum nuts and their scent.