Howdidtheoddballtreesof theAussieoutbackwindupwheretheyare?
It’s not just a matter of curiosity. the answers could reveal secrets fromournation’spast
Myths and Controversies
DESERT PALMS,
KIMBERLEY BOABS
Words and Pics
RON AND VIV MOONWE'VE JUST been into Palm Valley, that
delightful and impressive gorge, part of the
Finke River system, south-west of Alice Springs,
for the first time in years.
For something a little different we went in with
Finke River Adventures in their Can-Am ATVs.
They have a special licence to operate within the
park and through the adjoining Aboriginal land,
which sees you get off the main access road into
the park. Needless to say we had a ball and it
gives you a different insight into the area and the
valley itself. Check them out online.
Previously when we wandered around this
delightful oasis, the prevailing mantra was that
the ancient palms, first discovered by Europeans
when Ernest Giles stumbled on the place, were
a hangover from a distant Gondwana land. Even
the local government and tourist paraphernalia
waxed lyrically about the red cabbage palm,
Livistona mariae, stating it was a survivor from a
much wetter rainforest past when Australia was
connected to Africa and Antarctica.
Now the most recent research has blown
that theory out the window; it says the palm
of the Finke River is the same specie as you'll
find at Mataranka in the tropics of the NT and
at Lawn Hill in Queensland’s Gulf Country. More
surprising is the fact that they only became
separated 15,000 years ago, which is a long way
short of the 100 million years proposed by the
Gondwana theory.
The question now is how and why these three
lots of palms, separated by 1000km or more,
came to be, and if humans were involved in the
long-distance dispersal. Going by the signs at
the start of the walk into the valley, the jury is
still actually out on how they got here. There are
three theories – the old one from Gondwana
land has lost cred in the last few years, so that
leaves two. Maybe birds ate the fruit and thenOne of the biggest, fattest boabs
the Moons have seen in Australia