The Queensland Umbrella Tree is named for the state of Queensland in Australia, where it is native, but it has been spread to warmer areas around the world through the horticulture trade for the beauty of its evergreen foliage and unique umbels of flowers and fruit. Unfortunately it is also an invasive exotic that has spread out of control wherever it has been introduced. Even its home country – Australia – considers the Queensland Umbrella Tree an invasive exotic. Queensland Umbrella Tree fruit is abundant and easily available to the diversity of birds and other animals that feed on it. In Florida Northern Mockingbirds often defend the fruit supply, but other birds manage to partake of it. Eastern Bluebirds, Red-bellied and Pileated woodpeckers, and many other species take advantage of it. After feasting, the seeds pass through a bird’s digestive tract and are deposited with a bit of fertilizer – facilitating growth of new trees elsewhere.
Queensland Umbrella Tree
