Images may show mature specimens and are provided as a guide only. As plants are living products, the size, shape and appearance of the stock supplied may vary from the images shown.
Nursery Direct
Poached Egg Tree
Mesua ferrea
Everything is included in this price: the plant, free delivery and professional installation
The price you see is the whole job: the plant supplied, delivered free and professionally installed. Done for you.
Supplied in 75Ltypically 1.5 to 2.5m tall on delivery
Want to see the actual plant?
The photo shows this species, not the individual plant reserved for you. Send us an enquiry and we usually reply within 1 business day with photos of the actual stock available in the size you want.
Request photosGetting it in: this size needs about 900mm of clear access. Measure the narrowest point on the route and tell us on the booking call. Standard access is included in the price, and anything unusual is quoted and agreed with you before work begins. What happens on installation day
Looking for a larger size?
Sizes shown are the sizes we currently source in this species. If you need larger specimens, project quantities or a size not listed, our sourcing team can look for it through our national supplier network. We confirm your exact stock with you on the booking call before anything ships.
Send An EnquiryYou order. We do the rest.
After checkout, our team contacts you to confirm site access and book a day that suits. Most orders are delivered and planted within 2 to 4 weeks of your booking call. Nothing else for you to organise.
Registered Australian business, ABN 33 683 675 603. Public liability certificates available on request.
Product Details
Overview & Specifications
Price includes everything: the plant, free delivery and professional installation by our planting team. One price, whole job done.
Poached Egg Tree - Mesua ferrea
The common name comes from the flower, white petals cupped around a dense boss of golden stamens, but the reason to plant Mesua ferrea is the new growth. Each flush emerges limp and pink-red, hanging like wet silk before hardening to glossy dark green, and a mature tree does this several times a year. It is a slow, dense, well-behaved shade tree for warm gardens, which puts it ahead of faster tropical trees that need constant management.
Why Poached Egg Tree
New Growth Flushes: Drooping pink to copper-red new leaves are the tree's real display, repeated through the warm months.
Fragrant Flowers: White flowers with golden stamens are strongly scented and appear over a long period in summer.
Dense Canopy: The crown is tight and evenly branched, giving genuine shade rather than dappled cover.
Slow and Manageable: Its unhurried growth means it can be used in a courtyard without becoming a liability in ten years.
Ironwood Timber: The wood is famously hard and heavy, and the branch structure is correspondingly strong in wind.
Ideal Applications
Tropical Shade Tree: A single specimen on a warm-climate lawn delivers shade and colour without excessive litter.
Avenue Planting: Its uniform habit makes it a reliable repeated street or driveway tree in the tropics and warm subtropics.
Courtyard Feature: Slow growth allows it to be used in enclosed spaces where a fig or poinciana would never fit.
Quiet Garden Focal Point: Fragrance and long flowering suit contemplative or resort-style planting near seating.
Specimen & Installation
Spacing (screening/hedge): 4-5m for a dense canopy row
Spacing (feature/avenue): 6-8m
Best Planting Season: Start of the wet season in the tropics, spring elsewhere
Soil & Drainage: Deep, fertile, moisture-retentive soil with reliable drainage, ideally acidic to neutral and enriched with organic matter.
Establishment Care: Water deeply twice a week through the first two summers, as this species dislikes drying out while young. Mulch widely with coarse organic matter kept off the trunk, and shelter young trees from cold drying wind and any frost, which they will not tolerate.
Plant Details
Height: 8-12m in Australian cultivation, taller over a very long life in the wet tropics
Width: 4-6m
Growth Rate: Slow
Foliage: Evergreen
Light: Full sun to part shade
Native to: Sri Lanka, India and South East Asia
Flower Colour: White with golden-yellow stamens
Delivery & Installation
Delivery and installation are included in your price
No freight calculators and no separate installation quote for a standard installation. Your price covers specialist plant transport, positioning and professional planting by our installation team. The whole job, handled.
- Wrapped, secured and transported by specialist plant freight.
- Professionally planted, staked and finished by our install team.
- Our team confirms site access and schedules a time that suits you.
Installation
Professional installation included, never extra
Every plant we sell is planted by our professional installation team, and it's already in the price. We coordinate the delivery, the machinery and the planting for standard site access, so your only job is choosing the tree. Unusual access or engineering requirements? We'll confirm everything with you after checkout before any work begins.
Questions? Send An EnquiryWhy Nursery Direct
Every price includes supply, delivery and installation
Buying a mature tree often means three separate jobs: the plant, the freight and finding someone to plant it. We price the whole job as one: the tree, the delivery and the professional install.
- One price: supplied, delivered and installed
- Mature trees and specimen palms at every scale
- National sourcing for hard-to-find stock
- Residential, estate and commercial projects
How It Works
Place your order. We do the rest.
We Supply
Premium advanced stock, selected from a national network of wholesale growers.
We Deliver
Specialist plant freight brings your order to your door. Free, anywhere in Australia.
We Install
Our professional team plants, stakes, mulches and finishes the job on site.







