One of the most common tall native trees in southern Western Australia, the marri, not only plays an important part in biodiversity but is also linked to the success of certain agricultural industries.
Key points:
- The marri tree is a common native to WA
- It has a strong flowering season every four years or so
- When it doesn't flower well, agriculture can be impacted as animals go looking for food elsewhere
The marri species (Corymbia calophylla) does not have a strong flowering every year, and during some of its in-between years the lack of blossom can reduce honey productivity and force birds to look to vineyards for food.
Professor Steve Hopper, a biologist at the University of Western Australia, said the species experiences what is known as a "mast year".
"A good flowering year would attract many animals and attract them away from agricultural crops," he said.
"That occurs usually once every four years or so … and it takes a while to muster the resources sufficient to produce another big flowering.
"The trees have a rest and just produce a trickle."
The marri flowers can be easily identified, especially from above.
"This tree has big, white flowers that are born on the outside of the canopy, that's one of the features of Corymbia," Professor Hopper said.
"In many eucalypts the flowers are borne down the branches into the canopy but in Corymbia you get this massive white display.
"It has very large, vase shaped fruits … and it has the largest seeds out of all the eucalyptus. They are about one and a half centimetres long and are eaten by various parrots."
This year beekeepers have struggled to produce large volumes of honey without a strong marri flowering.
The "trickle" of flowers in the region forced commercial operators to travel far and wide to keep their hives functioning.
Bee Industry Council of WA chief executive Liz Barbour said beekeepers keep diaries of when flowering events occur so they can predict good and bad seasons.
"The thing about marri is there's not much else flowering when it flowers so it's one of the purest mono-floral honey," she said.
"When it does flower it helps in a lot of agricultural crops as well. There are others that rely upon good flowering in the forest to let them get on with what they need to do."
Loading...Vineyard operators also notice when marri trees are experiencing a prolific flowering year, according to Margaret River Wine Association CEO Amanda Whiteland.
"Marri tends to blossom at the same time as harvest and if there is lots of blossom in the trees the birds will prefer to eat the blossom," she said.
"But if there's not a lot of blossom the birds will go into the vineyards and peck the fruit.
"As we are a high quality, low yielding region … we don't want to lose any of our fruit to birds."
Ms Whiteland said most people would net their fruit to protect the grapes from birds, especially when the marri blossom period was over.
"Harvest is from about February until April, and marri blossom might be really prolific in February but drops away towards the end of harvest," she said.
"So by April it might have fallen from the trees and that's when our prize cabernets [wine grapes] are coming in.
"You'll see a lot of the cabernet fruit, particularly in April, will have nets over it."