KEY POINTS
- Each year, there are several signs from nature that mark the beginning of Australian summer and the holiday season.
- Christmas beetles and native plants thrive in warmer weather and have become symbols of Australian Christmas.
- Here are a few things you might not know about Australia's natural signals of the holiday season.
In pop culture and the northern hemisphere, the start of winter and the festive season is often marked by trees losing their leaves, snow falling, and animals going into hibernation.
In Australia, it's a different scenario.
A variety of native trees and flowers come into bloom, summer fruits are at their best, and a number of bugs and beetles start to make their presence known.
So what actually are Christmas beetles, what is an Australian Christmas tree, and how else is nature telling us the holiday season is here?
Christmas beetle
For many people, the Christmas beetle is a classic symbol of the holiday season and spark many nostalgic childhood memories.
The beetle is easily recognisable thanks to its large, chunky shape and metallic brown, yellow, or pink colouring.
Throughout the middle of summer - the Christmas period, to those who celebrate - the beetles emerge and are often found swarming around light, particularly on the eastern side of Australia.
While they're a classic symbol of Christmas past, the beetles are not so common at Christmas present.
According to the Australian Museum, the total number of Christmas beetles reported in the Sydney area has declined over the past 30 years.
The museum says this has occurred as grassy woodland areas get used up for housing.
Moodjar tree
In Western Australia, the moodjar tree's yellow flowers start to bloom across the bottom half of the state at the start of summer, and offer a sign that Christmas is around the corner.
The Moodjar Tree, referred to as Western Australia's Christmas tree, is sacred to Noongar People.
The unique plant is the largest mistletoe in the world and is believed to be one of the world's largest parasites - its roots slice into the roots of other trees to steal their sap.
The sacred tree is associated with the spirits of the dead, so although the flowers are beautiful, harming the tree or using the branches as decorations should not be done.
Cherries
Cherries are a classic summer fruit in Australia. Source: Getty / Monica Bertolazzi
The fruit, which comes in a variety of shades of Christmas red, also bears a slight resemblance to the red berries of the traditional Christmas holly.
Cherries are prominent in the fruit and veg section of Australian supermarkets in the week or two leading up to Christmas, with many people include them in Christmas meals.
At this year's annual Cherry Harmony Festival held in Manjimup, WA, a fortnight before Christmas, more than a tonne of the fruit was sold.
Pam Bodsworth, who co-ordinates the annual festival in her home town, quoted festival committee member and author Jon Doust when asked why the fruit had such an association with Christmas in Australia.
"He would tell you because it's the fruit of love, and really, Christmas time is all about love and family and all of that, isn't it?" she said.
NSW Christmas bush
The plant known as the NSW Christmas bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum) gets its red colour not from its flowers but from the bracts, or leafy material that encases the petals of the flower.
Brian Roach registered a dwarf version of the NSW Christmas bush. Source: Supplied / Brian Roach
“It’s as the flower is dying off that the calyx, or the bract behind the flower which is basically a small leaf or leaves that's what colours up and gives it the red colour,” he said.
While the larger version of the plant grows across much of NSW, the dwarf version needs to be propagated by cutting.
