AusBonsai

Hi everyone,

I was out touring for a few days and went past a stand of Callitris glaucophylla between Wagga and Hay. They don't seem to like to have wet feet and mostly grew in very limited areas on sides of hills or slight rises. Lots of seedlings around if you were wanting to collect(if possible). Many had deadwood on them which must be very old.

Hey Grant,

That is a great post
The Callitris genus are under utilised as specimens for Bonsai in Australia. I have three of the variety which you showed in your pics in early stages. They take rather well to having new growth pinched out to make foliage pads. The colour of the foliage is quite nice too. They are not slow growers, can handle the heat and dry exceptionally well, will take to being bent and twisted and cut back hard.
Go out and find yourself one, preferably from a nursery though or grow it from seed for best results.

Now i know why i always loose them. Was going great guns till the hot weather, then too much water.

Bump Callitris glaucophylla at native show in Canberra.

Next show is on March 13th and 14th at the Australian National Botanical Gardens.

See CBS website for more info.

Grant

I have been looking at these guys out the corner of my eye in my travels and there is definitely some interesting examples. Occasionally I see one that looks right out of an American Bonsai forum and I think we do have trees like that here. It is only recently that I realised they where natives.

I have heard collection is too hard.
Any success stories out there?

Bretts wrote:I have been looking at these guys out the corner of my eye in my travels and there is definitely some interesting examples. Occasionally I see one that looks right out of an American Bonsai forum and I think we do have trees like that here. It is only recently that I realised they where natives.

I have heard collection is too hard.
Any success stories out there?

Hi Brett,

Seing you live out that way maybe you could do some predigging around them this year(severing roots near the surface after it rains) and then come back next year and collect.

Grant

I will try to find a few to give it a go with Grant. Thanks for the thought!

Brett
U are right collecting Callitris from the wild is very difficult. Principally because when young in the wild they have tap roots almost as long as the tree is high. The living roots are almost all at the bottom of the taproot. Pre-cutting around the base of the tree would probably be a waste of time. All of this is an adaptation to the dry modern climate for this originally rain forest tree. Good material is often available in nurseries and viable seed can be obtained from trees in the wild after a good rain season.

However, if a tree had special qualities such as very blue foliage I probably would collect seeds (if available) and take some cuttings.

regards

Dennis Mc

Hi Dennis

You may remember discussing these with me at the School Summit last year. I did not realise that they where a native until then. I thought they where some Forrest replacement project
I will have a go at collecting a couple. Maybe I could dig under from one side cut the tap root and then fill it back in?
Might try a young one this Autumn and see what happens.

I have also been considering air layer as there are some pretty interesting looking branches about.

Thanks for the input

Hi Brett,

They are most definately natives.

Seed is easy to collect and viable.

I collected three seedlings years ago and 2 out of 3 survived.

Grant

Checked with my mate Pol the other day and he has successfully collected a couple with about Inch or so trunks. Not much to look at but it is hopefully. They had very long tap roots which was kept.
He collected in mid Summer after lots of rain. He liked the idea of digging under and cutting the tap root to encourage better surface roots.
I missed the recent rains

Bretts wrote:Checked with my mate Pol the other day and he has successfully collected a couple with about Inch or so trunks. Not much to look at but it is hopefully. They had very long tap roots which was kept.
He collected in mid Summer after lots of rain. He liked the idea of digging under and cutting the tap root to encourage better surface roots.
I missed the recent rains

You will never know if you never try youreself..

Lots of stuff is said to be impossible but the myths persist.

Grant

I was thinking I have enough projects on the way Grant but I will try to experiment with this species as they are all around me.

I've been having an interesting time reading about this species on Google and it's relation - the black cypress pine - Callitris endlicheri.

It appears white cypress pine - Callitris glaucophylla - may have had a name change (or also be known as) Callitris columellaris.

Hi Ron
There has been some name confusions in Callitris 'glaucophylla'. C. columellaris is a valid species, but it is confined to coastal areas. The inland species, 'glaucophylla' was recognised as sufficiently different to have a name of its own. The inland, white cypress pine, is correctly called 'glaucophylla'. The coastal species is known as 'columellaris'.

Cheers
Kunzea