Tulipwood Harpullia pendula

Tulipwood is the well behaved rainforest tree of subtropical street planting, which is how it earned its place through Brisbane and northern New South Wales. The crown is dense and rounded without needing much correction, the deep glossy pinnate leaves hold their colour through dry spells, and the root system stays polite around kerbs and footpaths. The seed capsules are the giveaway: they ripen a warm orange, split open to show glossy black seeds, and hang on the tree long enough to be a feature in their own right.

Establishing a rainforest tree on an exposed block

It takes full sun to part shade, moderate water and grows at a moderate to fast rate once it is away. Decent soil with organic matter suits it, and it hardens up to take coastal exposure and urban compaction better than most subtropical rainforest species. Frost hurts young plants, so in cooler districts pick a warm aspect. The failure mode is neglect in the first two summers. A small plant put into a hot, windy, unmulched site and then left to itself scorches at the leaf margins, stalls, and spends years going nowhere, which is why so many tube stock plantings look patchy while the few that were watered and mulched race ahead. Water deeply through the first two warm seasons, mulch widely, and shelter young plants from hot dry wind. For a screen or a street row, space them around three metres apart. One siting note: fallen capsules stain pale paving, so keep the tree back from a white concrete driveway or light coloured pavers, and think about where the prevailing wind will carry them.

Tulipwood against the other evergreen screens

On paper this shares its planting brief with Tuckeroo, and in practice they part company quickly. Tuckeroo is the one for beachfront salt and pure sand, with coarser, blunter leaflets and a heavier fruit drop. Tulipwood carries finer, glossier foliage, looks more refined close up, and behaves better on a suburban street where paving and kerbs are involved. Native Frangipani is the alternative if perfume matters more than privacy, though it is open and see-through where tulipwood is solid. Take tulipwood for a dense screen with good manners, tuckeroo where salt spray reaches the fence, and native frangipani where the point is scent by an open window. If the screen has to close sooner, look through the semi advanced trees rather than planting the small sizes closer together.

Shaping after flowering, feeding into the warm season

Prune in late spring or early summer once flowering is over, which is also the point to remove any competing leader and set the clearance you want beneath the canopy. Light shaping each year keeps the crown even, and screens can be tipped through summer while growth is active. Do not cut back into bare old wood, because the response is slow and uneven. Feed in early spring and again in mid summer with a controlled release fertiliser formulated for natives, and top the mulch up rather than digging around the roots. Trees carrying a heavy capsule crop appreciate a deep soak afterwards.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 12 sizes, from 140mm up to 2000L, priced from $16.95 to $4759.00 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.