Flame Tree Bank's Journal

The lower trees are extending their reach with new foliage reaching Gahnia Grove, the adjacent volunteer-managed zone, under canopy of Manuka and Kanuka. However no action has been taken as yet and the lower border of the invasion is not yet accessible to the volunteer due to uncertain contours making exploration difficult until more weeds have been removed. Through the Parks Community Ranger, a request for survey and containment is being made to the Council arborist for the area.
Fallen wood remains on the road site pedestrian grass access path to the Reserve.

6 July Parks Auckland council Community Ranger advises Parks Arborist has been asked for approval for "poisoning of the tree", and that Resource Consent may take 6 weeks to come through.

It is assumed that the extent of the surrounding forest will be thoroughly surveyed for the presence of further trees, and live and rotting fallen wood, as the results will be needed prior to Resource consent for intervention, and for containment of all the trees and fallen wood.

In the meantime, a volunteer is attempting this as time and safety permit (steep muddy banks, dense weeds, possible unseen slippages/erosion, wet weather).

Two young trees, c10 and 20cm diam, found in lower part of Gahnia Grove, below the c5mH single-head ti kouka recently released from Japanese honeysuckle.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/14225058

These trees can now be reached about 2m down a bank from Gahnia Grove, and from there the bank above them is visible up to the kikuyu pathway and the large Flame Tree. The area between is dominated by Cape honey flower,.

As suspected when viewed from the initial invasion from the path at the top of the bank, there appear to be more Flame trees below and north of these two, but as the foliage and trunks are mixed with native trees they cannot yet be clearly identified.

From the forest below Gahnia Grove, moving (North?) towards the major Flame tree stand through the forest, several multi-trunk stands were observed. The further they are from the original planted specimen on the ridge, the smaller the trunks. One trunk was only about 6cmD.

The total number of standing trunks observed is about 30, in 7 discrete stands.

Also seen were numerous low-lying branches in contact with the ground and/or in deep tradescantia, and much fallen wood in various stages of decay.

The base of some of the trunks was visible as suckering. In one case it appeared the trunks had arisen from a length of wood about .4m long and 10cmD. It may have been a raised section of root, but it appeared to be horizontal at one end, as if a broken branch.