Where 4,000 trees will be planted this autumn in new stimulus package

Hi Marilyn what your saying is factually incorrect
It is an urban myth with no basis in truth or science.
Brad Murray, Lyndle Hardstaff, Megan Phillips’ article ‘Differences in Leaf Flammability, Leaf Traits and Flammability-Trait Relationships between Native and Exotic Plant Species of Dry Sclerophyll Forest’ published November 18, 2013 completely contradicts the view that gum leaves are more flammable then other leaves and oils contained in leafs is a major factor contributing to flammability.
Murray, Hardstaff, and Phillips’ are members of the University of Technology Sydney’s School of the Environment.
Their research clearly demonstrated that:
1. the dry leaves of European and Asian tree species had significantly faster ignition times than the dry leaves of eucalyptus trees

2. when fresh the leaves of exotics and natives did not differ in mean time to ignition,

3. leaf size not oil content was the most important factor in leaf flammability in both native and exotic species.

1. Not relevant, the subject incendiary nature referred to by Marilyn plainly addresses the living tree, not leaf litter.
2. mean time to ignition when a heat source is applied in a laboratory is not the question. It’s what happens after ignition that is important. Does the burning leaf make a good source of ignition for the leaves next to it? Scientists have ignored.
3. Ambiguous

For all that, it’s not the flammability of Street eucalyptus I find problematic but their aggression. They kill any other plant nearby.

Hi Kevin
I agree. Marilyn is concerned about the living trees. To that end:
a) Associate Professor Chris Brack from the ANU’s Fenner School of Environment and Society, in a 14 Oct 19 RiotACT article titled ‘Native trees best suited to beat Canberra’s intensifying heat’, clearly states that eucalypts trees in streetscapes are ‘not a fire risk’.
b) the Uni. of Tech Sydney (UTS) study that I referred to above clearly demonstrated green leaves on gum trees are no more combustible then green leaves on non-Aussie exotics like oaks, ash trees, and maples.
For a long time some people in the community have been arguing that gums are more fire prone than exotics. These Aussie scientist have proven that those claims aren’t true. They’re an urban myth.
Regarding the question ‘does the burning leaf make a good source of ignition for the leaves next to it’ all leaves burn. What the scientists at UTS have proven (through field and lab work) is that there is no truth to claims that gum trees are more of a fire risk then introduced non-Aussie trees.
Re your comments that gums are ‘aggressive’ and ‘they kill any other plant nearby’ that’s not true either.
If you go to the corner of Marcus Clarke and Gordon Street’s in the City you can see some very lush vegetation growing under and next to gum trees on both sides of Marcus Clarke Street (see attached photos). There are even lush lawns growing under gums at the Garran Road end of Fellows Road on the ANU campus (see attached photos)

Emma Greenhalgh they did this to us when Brooklyn was a baby… a full size digger on the granite at 7 am. It lasted less than a week before being pulled out by a passer by. Funnily, they sent the truck to water it for almost a year… and even though they could clearly see it wasn’t there, they just kept watering the granite.

Ellie, I think ours will fall over in less than a week.

Emma Greenhalgh likely. We also were never told it was coming… but we then got a letter a week later telling us it was expected that we water it!

Ellie, yes, when I spoke to him this morning, he said that they are responsible for it’s care and watering, for 6 months, and then we are expected to maintain it.