Im writing this from the ‘big smoke’ (Sydney) trying out some city living for a change. I will be of ‘no fixed abode’ this time next year which will new for me. Not couch surfing as such but moving around the mid North coast hinterland, the central west, the far North west & Sydney. Over the last 10 years Ive uploaded nearly 20,000 photos of CMTs & native plants/animals on this site & that’s enough. The third archive of TinTs is nearly full so if there is ever any interest in the most remarkable of all Aboriginal cultural accomplishments you can still see them on this website. You won’t be able to see them in real life because there will be no one around to show you.
One of the trees you will never get to see is the ‘box with the lot’ that I recorded in the ‘Big’ scar archive years ago. As I was obsessed only with scarred trees at the time, I never looked up to see the Currant bush guest & stone axe cut ring. I don’t think I would have understood what I was looking at back then as the complexity of this tree was beyond my knowledge … & still is! Why so much culture on 1 tree? How old is the box & how old is the Currant bush? Does Allan Tighe’s “walkabout” tree point to the Box with the lot or are they both part of a songline running in that direction? Does the ring indicate underground water, a ceremonial place or a camp? Most importantly HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET THIS CURRANT BUSH TO GROW 4 METRES UP THE TOP OF THIS OLD BIMBLEBOX!!
This giant Coolabah (last pic) lives along the Ginghet & could well be the biggest in the country. The wailwan BFC (Big F*** Coolabah) is probably a millennial tree but holds its age well. Ive seen a few BFCs in my time, the old girl at Avon, the tall one in Stud paddock swamp & a huge scarred Coolabah on the banks of the Balonne near St George Qld. Except for the BFC on the Balonne the others don’t have scars or rings or guests. Russell Fairfax theorised that guests grew naturally in old eucalypts because they had more age related crotches. The older the tree the more wear & tear so more places for accidental epiphytes to take hold. However this theory doesn’t explain why the TinTs are found in clusters near camps & in association with other CMTs. I say there are no guests living in these old coolabahs because no one planted them there. All of the BFCs are near rivers, creeks, water catchments or wells so relatively easy to irrigate. Allan Tighe said they didn’t water the guests & as he is the only knowledge holder we must accept this until proven otherwise.
Now the fungus that Ive been calling Fomes fomentarius may not be that fungus at all. Michael Priest from Fungimap has this to say
“the samples you sent to me are not Fomes fomentarius. The spores in species of Fomes are hyaline (ie clear, not coloured) while the spores in your samples are coloured mid brown placing them in a completely different group of fungi. They occupy the same niche as Fomes being on wood, but their DNA tells us otherwise. I think the one we have is a native species, but I will leave it to our expert to sort out a name for it. As far as we know, Fomes fomentarius is a Northern Hemisphere fungus and occurs across Europe, North America and Asia. I will keep you in the loop about it”
Im not going back through the ‘handholds, wirris, vines, goolahgools & fungi’ archive to rename the fungi pics until Michael gets back to me. There is still the TinTs connection so I will be looking out for this fungus now I know the marks it leaves on the wood. There is the Avon & Wallangilla camps to check as well because Ive seen the fungus there. Even if the fungus has died in those camps there should still be the scars where it was.
The last pic I will leave you with is this small ground cover found at the large Gali gurranaa at Cumborah. Unlike the Nut grass & Dichondra preferred by the gomilaroi & wailwan, the yuwaalaraay/yaay used this little herb as camp carpet. Wherever you see this & Peach bush you are 100% likely to be in a camp. Wet seasons like this bring the best out of the landscape and this little plant is loving it. The tree species are different at this elevation as well, not growing 10 Ks to the east – Iron bark, mulga, Gidgee, Kurrajong. We have 1 kurrajong in the house paddock & a small clump of iron bark no doubt translocated by the same people who grew trees in other trees. Allan Tighe calls them the ‘old clever people’ and they were.
