Download to view our garden layout guide - Jarramali Daintree Rainforest

THE
JARRAMALI GARDENS
FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND
AUSTRALIA
Guests of the Jarramali Daintree Rainforest
Retreat have the exclusive use of the lush tropical
gardens that surround the house.
The Jarramali Gardens extend for over an acre.
Traversed by approximately 450 metres of garden
paths, they are home to more than 100 different
species of tropical plants.
Plants have been carefully selected to attract birds
and butterflies such as the Sunbird and the
Birdwing and Ulysses butterflies.
Two Ulysses butterflies
in the upper South Garden
near the Calliandra flowers
Male Sunbird in the
South Garden
Map of Jarramali Gardens
A
Upper
entrance
Water
tank
Lower
entrance
House
South Garden
Lawn
Water
tank
North Garden
BUTTERFLIES VISITING
T H E JA RR AM A LI GARDENS
The Ulysses Butterfly
The Ulysses butterfly is one of the most striking
butterflies of the Daintree Rainforest.
The upperside of the wings are iridescent blue
making the butterfly visible hundreds of metres
away. Its flight is fast and erratic to avoid
predators so that all that one sees are sudden
flashes of bright irridescent blue.
They prefer to forage on the upper canopy and as such are important pollinators of
canopy flowers. Typically it has a wingspan of about 14 cm (5.5 in). The wing
underside is a subdued black and brown. When the butterfly is resting the intense
blue of its wings is hidden by the brown under side of its wings, helping it to blend in
with its surroundings.
The iridescent blue is produced by a microscopic structure of the scales on its wings.
The female of the species is different from the male in that she has small lines of blue
in the upside sections of her hind wings, whereas males have only black. Males are
strongly attracted to the colour blue.
The Cairns Birdwing Butterfly
The Cairns Birdwing butterfly is the largest butterfly in
Australia and second largest in the world. The name
‘Birdwing’ comes from their huge size and birdlike flight.
It is protected by an International Convention.
The female Birdwing grows
larger than the male, up to a
maximum body length of 7.6 cm or 3 inches and a wingspan
of 28 cm or 11 inches. Birdwings are important pollinators
of nectar-bearing flowers of the forest. They forage at all
levels of the forest, from low shrubs on the ground to the
upper canopy.
The vine growing around the water tank (Aristolochia tagala) is used by the
Birdwings to lay their eggs and the caterpillars forage on the vine leaves. Care should
be taken as the vine can attract a small snake in search of the caterpillars.