Artwork 25 Plants of Drought and Flooding Rains
Section 20
Pandans of Northern Australia (Pandanus Palms/Screw Palms: Pandanaceae Family)
Judbarra / Gregory National Park, Northern Territory, Northern Territory
- 1. Adansonia gregorii (boab trees)
- 2. Melaleuca leucadendra (weeping paperbark)
- 3. Pandanus aquaticus (river pandanus)
from the artist
Pandanus aquaticus is on the right and left of the artwork, stretching along the pool to the end. A ripening fruit is on the right, behind the old “weeping paperbark” tree—Melaleuca leucadendra. The crowded fruits form globes 7–10 cm in diameter (Brock, 1993/2005, p. 275). This lovely pool was a crocodile-free oasis for us in the 40-plus degree heat, where we could swim, whereas the nearby river coursing along at a lower level was a haven for “salties”! The pool was located in Limestone Gorge in Judbarra / Gregory National Park (in the Top End of the Northern Territory). Limestone rocks near the pool had shells embedded in them, as in the painting foreground. We were surrounded by rugged sandstone escarpments and boab trees (Adansonia gregorii), which were displaying a leafless phase. Large fragrant cream-coloured flowers appear from October to December, and large globular fruits with edible pith from January to April (Brock, 1993/2005, pp. 80–81).
This work was accepted into the South Australian Museum’s Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize and exhibited as part of this in 2005.
