Botany Bucket List

Barklya syringifolia (Crown of Gold)

In the rainforest of Northeast New South Wales to Queenslands there resides a spectacular tree known as the Crown of Gold (Barklya syringifolia). Flowering or not, the heart-shaped leaves are ornamental but when the time is ripe, it brandishes splays of bright yellow flowers which cannot fail to delight. So showy are the flowers of this tree that it has earned it’s place as the floral emblem of Gladstone, Queensland.

Barklya syringifolia flowers

Barklya syringifolia is a member of the Fabaceae or the pea family. Where it stands within the pea family is still not clear but it is probably most closely related to Redbuds (Cercis spp.) and Orchid-trees (Bauhinia spp.). The genus is named after Sir Henry Barkly (1815-98), a governor of Victoria, Australia from 1856-1863. The species name ‘syringifolia‘ refers to the leaves from that resembles that of  liliacs (Syringia spp.).

Barklya syringifolia leaves resemble that of the temperate Liliac (Syringia)

I’ll be going to the Australian tropics soon to do some postgraduate research and I’ll be looking…

Photo credits: Black Diamond Images (see also Identifying Australian Rainforest Plants, Trees and Fungi Flickr group)

Status: Yet to See

Links to info on Barklya

Brisbane Rainforest Action and Information Network – Barklya

Gladstone SGAP – Barklya