Classic Veteran Tree : Curtain Fig Tree Yungaburra

Another classic Queensland Veteran Tree is the Curtain Fig west of Yungaburra on the Atherton Tablelands.

(Pictures curtesy of Google Earth 2008)

It really is quite incredible to think that until last year 2009 the Curtain Fig Tree was not listed on the Queensland Heritage Register....Whilst there is no doubt that this tree has been afforded protection due to the fact it has been a tourist magnet ever since the first European stumbled across it and raved on about it to their friends (probably over a drink or two!)...and it is inside a gazetted National Park (Curtain Fig NP).

However the slow progress towards officially recording and recognising the significance of many (a great many!) of the natural wonders across our state is frustrating to a great many people.

Each one of us can assist in the task of preserving our own local natural heritage for future generations to enjoy. The Veteran Tree Group is just one of a number of organisations that are working towards similar aims.

Over the years resources have been committed to protecting the forest environment that would otherwise have been overwhelmed by the pressure of the number of visitors walking through this parcel of remnant Mabi Forest.

A very attractive boardwalk talks visitors along a winding path into the amphitheatre that this tree has created through its steady growth

This large strangler fig and its long dead host tree have both fallen into an adjacent tree creating through the growth of aerial roots reaching towards the ground, a complex sheet of fig roots that resemble a frozen waterfall more than a curtain in my opinion.

Whether it looks like a curtain or a frozen waterfall (a curtain of water perhaps is what they meant?) there is no question that of all the many tree species you might encounter in Queensland on your travels veteran fig trees often have th emost mind blowing architecture to both their limbs and roots.

I personally don't really have favourites as such (though I am certain to have made mention of this or that tree as being my favourite!)...it would be hard to try and make comparisons between tree species that can be so very very different in their morphology...however when you look at a veteran tree (really an ancient tree!) like the Curtain Fig it certainly has a strong case for being included in the top ten.