The plants on this page are native alternatives to exotics including pest plants that can, or are already, creating havoc in our rainforests. Internet searches will provide histories and information about weeds in the tropics e.g. Miconia. And see Weed out Weeds for more information.
The “Plant Me Instead!“ plants are of similar size and flower colour to the non natives or exotics, so your garden or bush aesthetic can be maintained, and local trees will enhance our ecosystem to the benefit of a wide range of its animals and insects. Sometimes of course, there is no native plant which resembles the exotic, but there are so many beautiful and interesting natives from which to choose; see the images at JCU Cairns Campus Wild Plants List for a starting point. KCons Nursery has most of these in stock or is sourcing seeds to plant. If we don’t have them we will help you find them.
To help us help you and the rainforest, please collect seeds of these plants when at all possible. KCons will sow them and give you plants when they are ready.
Plant me, Bombax ceiba or Silk Cotton Tree, instead of the exotic weed African Tulip. I am just as beautiful, but I am native to North Queensland (and WA and NT) and support native birds and insects. I can reach 25m in the forests but in cultivation generally reach no more than 15m.
Please plant me, Deplanchea tetraphylla or The Golden Bouquet Tree. I am a shrub or small tree with large clusters of bright yellow flowers at the end of my branches. My fruit is up to 15 cm long, with numerous papery winged seeds. My flowers have copius nectar, and I am a wonderful substitute for Cassia fistula, The Golden Rain Tree, which hails from India.
