Crows Ash Flindersia australis

Crow's ash holds a dense, dark, glossy crown over a straight pale trunk, and the foliage is pinnate and lacquered looking, flushing bronze on new growth. The giveaway is the fruit: a hard woody capsule covered in short knobs that splits into five star shaped valves and stays on the tree for months. Children and florists collect them. Brisbane has used it as a park and avenue tree for generations, and it is still a shade and street tree first, planted for canopy over hot ground.

Dry rainforest origins, urban tolerance

It comes from the dry rainforest and scrub country of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, which is exactly why it copes with compacted park soil and dry heat when other rainforest trees give up. Plant it in full sun. Growth is fast once it settles, and water needs drop to low as the roots establish, though the first two summers still call for attention. Deep soil gives the straightest trunk, shallow ground a shorter and broader tree. In cold districts the young plants are the vulnerable ones, so keep it to frost free and near coastal sites. It suits Brisbane, the northern rivers and coastal New South Wales, and it will grow in frost free pockets further south, though it slows noticeably in a cooler climate.

The failure mode is planting it over parked cars. Those woody capsules are heavy, they fall from height, and they dent panels and mark duco. They also roll underfoot on a path or a set of steps. Put it over lawn, garden bed or road verge, and keep parking bays and pedestrian routes out from under the canopy.

Crows ash beside brush box

The obvious alternative is brush box. Both are big evergreen natives doing the same civic job, but crows ash tolerates dry heat and hard ground better and gives a more textured, pinnate canopy, while brush box gives denser shade, softer litter and that cinnamon shedding trunk. If cars or fine paving sit underneath, brush box is the easier neighbour. If the site is a hot, open, compacted park or a wide verge, crows ash establishes into a canopy with less fuss. Hard quandong is the smaller scaled evergreen alternative again. Crows ash also holds its foliage through a dry summer where a lesser rainforest tree would defoliate, which is the practical reason western suburb councils keep specifying it. Large container stock appears in super advanced trees.

Feeding a fast native canopy

Prune in the warmer months, when the tree is growing and wounds seal quickly. Aim to keep a single leader and lift the crown in stages over several years rather than removing a whole tier at once, which leaves a bare trunk with a tuft on top. Deadwood and rubbing branches can come out at any time. Feed in early spring with a controlled release fertiliser suited to natives, spread out to the canopy edge, and water it in deeply. Mulch to the drip line, keeping it off the trunk, and it will ask very little of you after the third year. Water deeply through the first two summers, then taper off.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 11 sizes, from 140mm up to 2000L, priced from $16.95 to $8399.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to Australian native trees.