MORTON BAY FIG TREE – Ficus macrophylla, Palm Grove National Park.
The mighty Moreton Bay fig tree which was uprooted by ex-cyclone Oswald in 2013, fell across the path.
Once the trunk had been cut, the weight of the root ball lifted the base of the trunk towards its original position, while the remainder stretched for tens of metres across the soil.
In 2017 I filmed the unblemished base of the trunk, which, when the root ball was sufficiently depleted, would have again fallen to the ground.
Three weeks ago, I visited the park for the first time since then and returned a week later to photograph where the tree once stood, marvelling at the change which had occurred in a little over eight years.
The base has succumbed to the recycling process of the forest floor, with only a few paltry remnants of timber visible and the hollowed-out area of the root ball was barely discernible.
Somewhat more of the rest of the trunk is visible, though most of it is covered by leaves and palm fronds.
