Avenues of Honour: the Trees

Portuguese Oak (Quercus faginea) 

 
Avenues: Clayton, Mt Waverley and Notting Hill. 
Quercus faginea, the Portuguese oak, is a species of oak native to the western Mediterranean region in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.  It is a medium-sized deciduous or semi-evergreen tree growing to 20 m tall, with a trunk up to 80 cm diameter, with grey-brown bark. The tree can live as long as 600 years. The leaves are 4–10 cm long and 1.2–4 cm broad, glossy dark green to grey-green above, and variably felted grey-white below; the margins have 5-12 pairs of irregular teeth. A tree which is used in Australian streetscapes that is hardy and attractive and would be well suited to many conditions. 

Portuguese Oak leaves

Flowering Gum (Corymbia ficifolia) 

Avenues: Oakleigh. 
Corymbia ficifolia or the red flowering gum also known as Albany red flowering gum (previously known as Eucalyptus ficifolia) is one of the most commonly planted ornamental trees in the broader eucalyptus family. In nature Corymbia ficifolia prefers infertile, sandy soils but it is readily adaptable to most temperate locations, provided it is not exposed to severe frost or sustained tropical damp. It is an ideal street tree as it is hardy, moderately fast growing, and rarely grows large enough to require pruning.  It grows well from seed, typically taking about 7 years before it flowers for the first time and 15–20 years to reach something approaching its full size of anything between 2–8 m. 
 Corymbia ficifolia tree  Corymbia ficifolia fowers

Cut-leaf Plane (Platanus orientalis 'digitata’) 

Avenue: Oakleigh 
This is a large tree that has dark finely pointed green leaves with five lobes. It has a large trunk that has attractive coloured grey to white bark. It produces insignificant flowers that are followed by brown fruits. 

Cut-Leaf Plane leaves