It’s that time of year again – the rainbow lorikeets are delightedly munching at the flower buds of the neighbour’s “instant tree”, the Common Coral Tree, Erythrina x sykesii. How wonderful it would be if this were an example of biological control in action, with the gloriously feathered native bird (native to the east coast anyway, pest in the west) destroying the reproductive system of the equally vividly arrayed noxious weed tree. But no, sadly unlike its hateful and equally tasty cousin the Cockspur Coral Tree, Erythrina crista-galli, which does reproduce by spreading its seed, the Common Coral Tree reproduces vegetatively. A new tree can grow from a branch washed down a creek or even from a fragment that’s been through the chipper. So, visually delightful as the Rainbow Lorikeets are as they dangle like psychedelic blooms on the bare branches, they have no impact at all on the success of this damned tree. Weeds one, self-managing ecosystems nil…