The WA Christmas Tree (Nuytsia floribunda) – called the Mundjah or Moojar by Noongar people – is an important landmark in Jirdarup. Christmas Tree corner where there are three splendid specimens is well known by locals. Two are in the fenced off areas and one is next to the path.
Late June 2024, Friends noticed that the tree on the edge of the pathway was stressed. It was infected with scale and sooty mould, and some of the branches were dying. The Nuytsia behind the fences appeared healthy. A number of possible causes have been suggested:
- Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the urine and faeces of dogs both of which are thought to be harmful to many native plants
- Trampling from people and dogs, damaging the surface roots and suckers
- The limestone path that is very close to the tree
- Lack of vegetation around the base of the tree.
Mundjah trees are very sacred to the Noongar people still today. At a Friends’ Walk & Talk in 2021, Aboriginal Elder, Roni Forrest, explained that Noongar people believe that when they die their spirit enters the tree where they wait for Birak (summer). When the tree flowers, their spirit goes west to Kurannup (over the ocean) to be with their ancestors. Noongar people will not pick the flowers other than to use for brew as they are believed to bring bad luck, and under no circumstances will a Noongar sit under a tree.
The orange flowers of the Mundjah are traditionally used to make a lightly alcoholic brew called mungitch. The sweet drink is brewed over several days by soaking the flowers in fresh water and the drink is used to celebrate the abundance of food traditionally on offer during Birak. The sugary tasting roots were also eaten but this was not permitted when it was in flower.
The first confirmed description of the tree’s hemi-parasitic nature was recorded in 1919 by State Botanist, Desmond Herbert who observed that special roots called haustoria attacked a wide range of other plants including carrots, roses, grass and broad beans, over 100 metres away. He also described their tendency to produce suckers that visitors to Jirdarup can see firsthand. The trees get their water from host plants.
Nuytsia roots have been reported cutting through telephone cables. This is probably a response to ethylene as they are known to attack a variety of plastic covered cables but bypass wood and glass rods.
See the following for more information:
- A fully accessible paper published in March 2023 by Alison Lullfitz et al: Talking Mungee – a teacher, provider, connector, exemplar: what’s not to celebrate about the world’s largest mistletoe, Nuytsia floribunda. This paper which arose from a workshop of western scientists and Noongar Elders concluded that the most appropriate Noongar name for the tree is Mungee. It is of “higher status than other plants holding lore relating to people,
Country and relationships and can be likened to a cornerstone religious text.”
- A 2010 paper by Stephen Hopper for further information and an extensive list of resources about the Nuytsia floribunda from its first sighting by Europeans aboard the Dutch East India Company’s Gulden Zeepaard in January 1627 at Point Nuyts near Walpole. This paper was reviewed as part of the development for the 2023 paper by Lullftiz et al.
