Morton Bay Chestnut
Morton Bay Chestnut trees are of interest as they are a cousin of the Morton Bay Fig Tree. The Morton Bay Chestnut tree is also known as the Black Bean Tree, or its botanical name of Castanospermum Australis.
This tree is evergreen and very strong growing with pinnate leaves measuring about 45 centre metres long. This wondrous tree has clusters of pea like flowers, yellow to orange in colour which blooms in the summer time. The flowers are followed by pods with large chestnut like seeds contained within the pods.
A fantastic tree to have a picnic lunch under to shade you from the summer heat, as it grows to about 30 metres in height and has a dense canopy of at least 25 metres. So if your backyard is on the large side this will seen for miles.
It is frost tender and requires full sunlight and fertile, moist, well drained soil around it.
The Morton Bay Chestnut is grown for its overall ornamental appearance, beauty and shade. Taking into account the size of this tree, it must be planted somewhere that it can grow to its full splendour.
This tree is not as rare to find as the Morton Bay Fig, but I have only ever come across one in my life time.