IF YOU have noticed a small to medium sized tree, up to 25 metres that has been blooming in the last month or so with a bunches of bright yellow flowers and lime green compound leaves, you may be looking at the rare and vulnerable Cassia marksiana (Brush Cassia).
It does not bloom every year but it is this year.
It can be quite spectacular when it blooms with golden yellow summer flowers that hang in large clusters and are fragrant.
It is very local to our area with a lowland subtropical rainforest habitat no further south of the Brunswick River and no further north than Beenleigh. It is very special to our neck of the woods.
As a result of its small habitat most of it has been completely destroyed by humans and it is listed as vulnerable under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992.
It is not to be confused with the much more common Easter Cassia (Senna pendula) which is a much more vigorous shrub which flowers around Easter time, as its name suggests, and is considered a weed.
If you think you have spotted the Cassia marksiana then you are looking at something that is rare and needs to be protected.
In winter Cassia marksiana develops cylindrical brown pods which contain numerous disc shaped seeds.
We will be looking out for those next year so we can try to grow some more.
