Toowoomba's Best Trees - book extract Toowoomba's Best Trees - book extract | Page 5

German botanist who was the first person to collect the variety (on Booby Island
in Torres Strait) in 1861. General information on fig trees (the genus Ficus) is
given in the box under the description of the weeping small-fruited fig in the
Bell Street Mall.
Deciduous figs are quite ornamental if they are left to grow freely in parks and
large gardens in coastal Queensland. Like all other fig trees, their fruits are an
important food source for many local insects, birds, and arboreal marsupials.
We are lucky to have such a large and splendid deciduous fig in Toowoomba,
even though we can only see the lower trunk at all clearly.
T H E B OYC E G A R D E N S A N D R A I N F O R E S T
These gardens were developed by Dr Leslie and Mrs Margaret Boyce
between 1929 and 1969, when they were given to the University of
Queensland. When they acquired the land the Boyces found this small area
of remnant native rainforest and carefully preserved and strengthened it.
This is the last area of remnant native dry rainforest along the inner edge
of the Toowoomba escarpment. Remnant native rainforests such as this
contain micro-snails – tiny native snails 2-3 mm across at maturity that feed
in the leaf litter and on the algae on the leaves on rainforest floor plants.
This group of native animals is still being investigated and studied by the
Queensland Museum, and collections have been made from this area.
Dr and Mrs Boyce built the house that stands in the middle of the gardens
and planted over 700 species of trees, vines, shrubs and perennial flowers
and herbs throughout the six hectares of gardens and grounds. There are
many interesting trees throughout the area, including the spiny-trunked silk
cotton tree in the sloping lawn below the house, the very large magnolia
just inside the gate onto Range Street, and the giant stinging trees
throughout the rainforest (see the box below).