Botany

The Woody Pear 

Living on the edge of the bush, there’s great interest amongst many Milsons Passage people in our native fauna and flora.  There are few more fascinating plants than the Woody Pear called 'Meridja-courroo" in local Aboriginal language and Xylomelum pyriforme by the purists. 

Like the macadamia, it’s a member of the Proteaceae family.  It has large pear shaped fruits of a tough wood-like material which are covered in a dove-grey suede. Seeds are only produced after fire or if the plant dies.  Then the pear splits open and two  winged seeds flutter to the ground below. 

The Woody Pear was one of the first Sydney plants known to botanical science. Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander landed from Cook's Endeavour in Botany Bay to take the first plant sample.

The plant was held up in colonial times as a typical example of the bizarre flora of Australia.

Bizarre it may be, but its oddly beautiful and fascinating as well. 

To find out more, you might visit the National Parks Association Journal.

A Milsons Passage Woody Pear admires the view .