Author: John Halkett (Page 5 of 7)

The Wishing tree, Sydney’s Botanic Gardens, about 1880: Probably the most notable tree to have grown in the Gardens.

Sydney’s Wishing Tree

July 9, 2017 / John Halkett

Sydney’s Botanic Gardens are an important part of Australia’s tree heritage and Australia’s oldest scientific institution. Established during the reign of King George III, the Gardens were granted the royal epithet in 1959 by his great-great-great-great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II. The gardens are an important part of Australia’s tree heritage.
The botanic gardens are the site of the first farm which was began within weeks of the establishment of the colony of New South Wales by Governor Phillip in 1788 and are part of the Domain established by Phillip in 1792. The traditional… Read more “Sydney’s Wishing Tree”

Boabab Tree — Tremendous in size and bizarre in appearance, baobab trees have provided food, medicine, and places of refuge and worship to countless peoples.

Baobab trees – upside-down giants

June 3, 2017 / John Halkett

Among the world’s most unusual trees, the baobabs are frequently described as being grotesque because of their huge, swollen, bottle-shaped trunks supporting a shallow crown of ungainly branches.

Standing tall on the sunburned plains of Africa and Australia, baobabs may be amongst the oldest life forms on the planet. Many of the specimens standing today have been around for well over two thousand years. Tremendous in size and bizarre in appearance, they have provided food, medicine, and places of refuge and worship to countless peoples, even on occasion serving as prisons and tombs.… Read more “Baobab trees – upside-down giants”

3000 year old olive tree … foremost tree in early human culture and commerce.

Uncrowned king of trees

May 2, 2017 / John Halkett

Among the foremost trees in early human culture and commerce was the olive. From the dawn of recorded history the olive has enjoyed a status and prestige not shared by any other plant. Although many of the events in the early story of the olive are shrouded in mystery, the tree has been feted as the precursor to modern civilization.

It was the olive tree that was acknowledged as ‘the first of trees’. In the Bible’s book of Judges, Chapter 9, Verse 8 is written: “The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.” The olive has been the uncrowned … Read more “Uncrowned king of trees”

The impressive mountain ash forests of Victoria are for height, size and grandeur, unequalled among the world’s hardwood trees.

Big Victorian mountain ash tree in Nelson

April 19, 2017 / John Halkett

Went to Nelson at the top end of New Zealand’s South Island recently to visit my brother Lawrie. While there we hunted out the locally well-known Barrington Gum.
It’s an Australian mountain ash (Eucalyptus regans) thought to have been planted on then open farm land about 1860. It is now embedded within a radiata pine plantation. The tree was officially measured in 2009 and at that time had a height of 72.1 metres and a diameter of 2.4 metres. The tree is listed in the New Zealand Tree Register at: www.notabletrees.org.nz.
The impressive mountain ash forests of the state of Victoria in Australia are… Read more “Big Victorian mountain ash tree in Nelson”

Chinese paulownia trees in Australia

March 31, 2017 / John Halkett

Paulownia is a deciduous hardwood tree native to parts of Asia, notably China, and is well known for its vigorous growth and capacity to be grown over short rotations. Its timber is noted for its workability and outstanding strength to weight ratio.
Paulownia timber is light in colour, with a gradual transition from sapwood to heartwood. The timber has a low density (260-350 kilograms per cubic metre, at 15 percent moisture content). It is a straight grained, soft timber which is easy to air dry. After drying the timber is stable unless a notable proportion of pith is present.
Paulownia timber … Read more “Chinese paulownia trees in Australia”

Magnificent planted Queensland kauri at Blackburn Cove, eastern Sydney.

Kauri and monkey puzzle tree

February 25, 2017 / John Halkett

I have always had a soft spot for Agathis trees. This magnificent planted Queensland kauri (Agathis robusta) is adjacent to the beach on eastern Sydney where I occasionally go for a quick swim before work. It has to be well over a hundred years old – perhaps two hundred.
Together Agathis and Araucaria form the Southern Hemisphere conifer family of trees Araucariaceae. Agathis – a genus of thirteen species is generally known as kauri, after the Maori name for the New Zealand species Agathis australis.
Although the genus extends as far south as the warm temperate forests of northern New Zealand, … Read more “Kauri and monkey puzzle tree”

Main tree species in boreal forests are conifers – pines, spruces, firs and larches – adapted to very cold climatic conditions.

Boreal forests – it’s cold up there

February 25, 2017 / John Halkett

Boreal forests are one of the planet’s great ecosystems. Boreal (meaning northern – they are called taiga in Russia) forest occupies the northern sub arctic zone up beyond about latitude 50 encircling the Earth at the top of the Northern Hemisphere across Russia, Scandinavia, Alaska and Canada. The boreal forest belt represents the world’s largest land-based ecosystem and act as part of the largest source and filter of freshwater on the planet.
Temperatures in these boreal forests are usually extremely low with long winter seasons. The soil freezes – only thawing for a few months in the farthest… Read more “Boreal forests – it’s cold up there”

The arrival of the festive season in Sydney is marked by the appearance of the Martin Place Christmas tree.

Around the Christmas tree – and thanks

December 19, 2016 / John Halkett

Christmas is fast approaching again! Interesting isn’t it that at the centre of this, the most prominent annual festive holiday, is a tree.
However, long before the advent of Christianity trees that remained green all year round had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people decorate their homes during the festive season with ever-green pines or fir trees, ancient people hung evergreen branches over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.
The evergreen fir tree has been used to celebrate… Read more “Around the Christmas tree – and thanks”

Northern trees disrobe for winter

November 16, 2016 / John Halkett

Just had a working visit to Brussels, and was it cold after the emerging summer temperatures in Sydney! The locals know how to dress for one digit temperatures – I just don’t own those sort of clothes.
The deciduous broadleaf trees in Brussels and elsewhere across the northern hemisphere are also transiting into their winter wardrobe. This means shedding their cloak of leaves. This feature of northern hemisphere broadleaf trees is only occasionally seen in the southern hemisphere.

As deciduous trees prepare for their annual leaf loss they absorb the chlorophyll, plus other nutrients from … Read more “Northern trees disrobe for winter”

‘Dinosaur’ pine growing in Sydney

October 19, 2016 / John Halkett

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney is one of my favorite spots in the city. Recently I paid another visit and checked out the Wollemi pine. This specimen was planted as one of the first seedlings from the trees found growing in the wild.

The Wollemi pine was formally identified in 1994. It is an example of the botanical diversity and wonder of Australian trees. Discovered when bushwalker David Noble clambered down a rocky cliff into a remote canyon in the Wollemi wilderness – hence the name – about 100 kilometres inland from Sydney. He encountered a cluster of strange-looking trees that he had never… Read more “‘Dinosaur’ pine growing in Sydney”