THE Velvet Bean Tree (Cassia tomentella) is in flower now and easy to notice beside our country roads or in the occasional small stand of scrub in the paddocks.
Once it could be found in many areas across South East Queensland and as far north as Rockhampton. But in clearing the land for dairying and farming in the early days, and later for suburban growth, the Velvet Bean lost its homelands.
Now it’s only found in the wild in the Fassifern and rural Ipswich and in small populations along the central coast.
In the wild it tends to have two forms - a stunted looking bush or a medium sized tree - yet if you plant it in your garden it takes on its true form of a small to medium tree with a dense, rounded canopy patterned with the lime green and deep green of the new and old leaves. However, across its natural growing areas it has six different forms including a white flowering variety.
While the tree tends to drop a proportion of its leaves during the Winter, it seemingly bursts into Spring with a determination to shake off the hardships of the colder, drier season with a show of new leaves, and by mid Spring it is festooned with cascades of flowers.
The blooms are followed by long, brown, cylindrical shaped seed pods containing seeds which will germinate freely especially if they are first rubbed with sandpaper. But you have to be quick. Most are munched on by caterpillars from the diverse range of butterflies which hone in on their favourite food plant.
The genus name ‘Cassia’ is of Greek origin and means cinnamon. Apparently, a spice which was once produced from the timber was used as a substitute for cinnamon.
The species name of ‘tomentella’ refers to a covering of soft hairs which can be found on the underside of the leaves, on the young shoots and leaf stems.
The Velvet Bean Tree is drought resistant, grows in full sun and prefers free draining, fertile soil. That’s what the references indicate but when you look at the remaining wild sites where it flourishes, it is an extremely hardy tree which must have a degree of frost tolerance.
If you are looking for a tree for your garden, this one is definitely worthy of consideration is you have room for one which will potentially grow to 12 metres.
