Our regular meetings and outings remain suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions. To lighten the mood we chose a Plant of the Month that represents the cause of the global pandemic. But don’t worry, the plant presents NO infection risk!
Nauclea orientalis, the Leichhardt tree, was dubbed the “coronavirus tree” by our friends at the Bush Garden Nursery. They noticed a curious visual similarity between a coronavirus image and the tree’s spherical flower heads.
The size difference is vast. Nauclea flower heads are golf ball-sized, while coronavirus particles are so tiny you would need an electron microscope to see them. But that’s not something to try at home.
Nauclea orientalis is an impressive tree in its own right. You can find botanical details and more photos on our species page.
* Image “Australia’s ‘coronavirus tree’ ” created by Julia Hazel as a derivative of “Nauclea orientalis” by Tony Rodd used under CC-BY-SA, and “Computer render of SARS-CoV-2 virus” by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the public domain.