A Genuine Bastard.

Ungeria floribunda is its taxonomic name.  Common name: the Norfolk Island Bastard Oak.

The very presence of this now rare tree on Norfolk speaks to how much of this beautiful island we still cannot explain.  Not only is the individual species, floribunda, unique to Norfolk Island, but the entire genus, Ungeria, is, too.  This is astounding.  For a relatively young, small and remote land mass, it defies explanation.  I love it.

By way of comparison, in addition to the iconic Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria heterophyla), the Auracaria genus includes some 18 other species ranging from South America across the Pacific to Australia and New Guinea.  These species numbers and broad geographic range reflect Auracaria’s long and diverse evolutionary history.  Similarly, the genus, Cyathea, contains two separate species of tree fern unique to Norfolk, one considered the tallest in the world, and over 400 other species spread across the globe.  Ungeria floribunda, however, the Bastard Oak, is the only species in its genus and the entire genus is found naturally-occurring only here. 

Bastard Oak

Attempts to explain this circumstance are complicated by Norfolk’s relatively young geologic age (estimated to be some 2.5 million years since the last volcanic eruption) and evidence (from Peter Coyne) suggesting it has been isolated from other land masses during all of this period.  Beginning with a naked volcanic landscape, you could expect some species to variously reach Norfolk and diversify within this short time span.  But to have an entire genus, this higher unit of time, seemingly just pop-up or somehow be the last to survive stymies even the most imaginative scientific mind.  “Kaa waa”, would be the local phrase.  Who knows?

Taxonomic names are useful both to systematically identify one plant or animal from another, and to indicate its evolution over time.  Common names, on the other hand, can reflect the local lore and be much more colourful, as well as easier to remember.  I’ve heard two explanations of how the Bastard Oak got its name.  It does have an oak-sort-of-look to its leaf.  The other explanation is it’s the only one in the family that doesn’t know its pedigree.  In any event, its mystery delights me. 

By the way, while reviewing Peter Coyne’s field guide, Norfolk Island’s Fascinating Flora, I think I recognised a plant in my backyard which Peter suspects may have become extinct.  If I’m correct, it’s the wild cucumber, Sicyos australis.  I won’t be able to confirm the species until it flowers.  But I wrote Peter with the good news and the even better news that I’ve since stopped trying to kill it.  It’s a creeper and no one could identify it, so I considered it just another introduced pest.  That I know, I have one plant left.  We’ll see.

- Rick