The National Arboretum Canberra is a 250-hectare (620-acre) arboretum in Canberra, the national capital of Australia, created after the area was burned out as a result of the Christmas 2001 [1] and 2003 Canberra bushfires: [2] The Himalayan Cedar forest lost about one third of its trees, and the commercial Radiata Pine plantation was burned out, allowing the arboretum to be created.
In 2004, the Government of the Australian Capital Territory held a nationwide competition for an arboretum, which was to be part of the recovery from the 2003 bushfires. The winning design by landscape architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean [3] and architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer proposed 100 forests and 100 gardens focussing on threatened, rare, and symbolic trees from around the world.
The site has been planted since 2005, and includes ceremonial trees planted by visiting heads of government and ambassadors. It was officially opened on 1 February 2013. [4]
The established areas include existing forests of Himalayan cedar ( Cedrus deodara ) and cork oak ( Quercus suber ) [5] planted under the guidance of early town planners under general direction from the city's planner, Walter Burley Griffin. The arboretum is generally in keeping with Griffin's plan for such an arboretum, as expressed by the earlier forests.
A forest of Turkish Pine Pinus brutia , a species native to the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, has been planted to commemorate Australian service personnel killed in all conflicts. [6] In addition, a number of ceremonial Aleppo Pines ( Pinus halepensis ) have been planted on the summit of Dairy Farmers Hill, propagated from seed of the Lone Pine tree planted at the Australian War Memorial. [7] These complement a number of mature specimens of this species already existing on the hill. [8]
The National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia, [9] previously in Commonwealth Park, has been relocated to the arboretum. [10]
Plantings include:
Close to the main building, the Village Centre, a eucalyptus forest representative of remnant and former forests of the Southern Tablelands region has been established with the long-term objective of creating a regional botanic garden, education and ecosystem recovery centre. It includes 16 eucalypt species from various habitats and a rich diversity of under-storey shrubs, grasses, ground covers, flowers and herbs providing natural habitat for a range of animals.
The arboretum has some outstanding views and an open-air stage and amphitheatre. The buildings include the Village Centre, an innovative timber structure housing a cafe, restaurant, gift shop and interpretive exhibition, and a smaller event and ceremonial building called the Margaret Whitlam Pavilion. The stonework in the visitors center is sourced from the town of Wee Jasper, New South Wales, on the outskirts of Canberra.
The arboretum features several pieces of monumental public art.
On a hill within and overlooking the arboretum is "wide brown land", spelling out the description of Australia by Dorothea McKellar in her poem My Country , taken from the original manuscript in McKellar's handwriting. It is approximately 35m in length and 3m tall.
On Dairy Farmers Hill is a found objects artwork depicting an eagle on a nest.
Eucalyptus is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of Eucalyptus are trees, often mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including Corymbia and Angophora, they are commonly known as eucalypts or "gum trees". Plants in the genus Eucalyptus have bark that is either smooth, fibrous, hard, or stringy and leaves that have oil glands. The sepals and petals are fused to form a "cap" or operculum over the stamens, hence the name from Greek eû ("well") and kaluptós ("covered"). The fruit is a woody capsule commonly referred to as a "gumnut".
Eucalyptus regnans, known variously as mountain ash, giant ash or swamp gum, or stringy gum, is a species of very tall forest tree that is native to the Australia states of Tasmania and Victoria. It is a straight-trunked tree with smooth grey bark, but with a stocking of rough brown bark at the base, glossy green, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between nine and fifteen, white flowers, and cup-shaped or conical fruit. It is the tallest of all flowering plants; the tallest measured living specimen, named Centurion, stands 100 metres tall in Tasmania.
Eucalypt is any woody plant with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera found across Australia: Eucalyptus, Corymbia, Angophora, Stockwellia, Allosyncarpia, Eucalyptopsis and Arillastrum. In Australia, they are commonly known as gum trees or stringybarks.
Eucalyptus pauciflora, commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally, is a species of tree or mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters of between seven and fifteen, white flowers and cup-shaped, conical or hemispherical fruit. It is widespread and locally common in woodland in cold sites above 700 m (2,300 ft) altitude.
The United States National Arboretum is an arboretum in northeast Washington, D.C., operated by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. It was established in 1927 by an act of Congress after a campaign by USDA Chief Botanist Frederick Vernon Coville.
The Chavez Ravine Arboretum, in Elysian Park, just north of Dodger Stadium, at 1025 Elysian Park Dr, Los Angeles, California, contains more than 100 varieties of trees from around the world, including what are believed to be the oldest and largest Cape Chestnut, Kauri, and Tipu trees in the United States. Admission to the arboretum is free.
Eucalyptus dalrympleana, commonly known as mountain gum, mountain white gum, white gum and broad-leaved ribbon gum, is a species of tree that is endemic to southeastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, white flowers and cup-shaped, bell-shaped or hemispherical fruit.
The Tree of Knowledge was a heritage-listed tree in Oak Street, Barcaldine, Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia, that was poisoned and killed in 2006. It was a 200-year-old Corymbia aparrerinja ghost gum. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The greater Brisbane area of Queensland Australia, has many species of indigenous flora. This article links the flora to its geography with:
Eucalyptus saligna, commonly known as the Sydney blue gum or blue gum, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, flaky bark near the base of the trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, nine or eleven, white flowers and cylindrical to conical or cup-shaped fruit.
Indoor bonsai are bonsai cultivated for the indoor environment. Traditionally, bonsai are temperate climate trees grown outdoors in containers. Tropical and sub-tropical tree species can be cultivated to grow and thrive indoors, with some suited to bonsai aesthetics shaped as traditional outdoor or wild bonsai.
The National Bonsai Foundation (NBF) is a nonprofit organization that was created to sustain the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. NBF also helps the United States National Arboretum showcase the arts of bonsai and penjing to the general public. The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum is located on the 446-acre (1.80 km2) campus of the U.S. National Arboretum in northeast Washington, D.C. Each year over 200,000 people visit the museum. Distinguished national and international guests of various federal departments are also among the visitors.
Cumberland State Forest is a wet sclerophyll forest in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the southern edge of the Hornsby Plateau, the forest is located in the suburb of West Pennant Hills, Sydney and contains 40 hectares of native forest. It is the only metropolitan state forest in Australia and it is considered unique in comparison to the other state forests of NSW. The forest receives about 150,000 visitors annually.
Eucalyptus deanei, commonly known as mountain blue gum, round-leaved gum, or Deane's gum, is a species of large tree endemic to New South Wales. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped leaves that are paler on the lower surface, flower buds in groups of seven to eleven, white flowers and cup-shaped to bell-shaped fruit.
The Lindsay Pryor National Arboretum is an arboretum on the Yarramundi Reach peninsula in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is named after Lindsay Pryor, a noted Australian botanist. The site is located at the western end of Lake Burley Griffin and is used for research and recreation.
Eucalyptus eugenioides, commonly known as the thin-leaved stringybark or white stringybark, is a species of tree endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small to medium-sized tree with rough stringy bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, Flower buds in groups of between nine and fifteen, white flowers and hemispherical fruit.
Eucalyptus benthamii, commonly known as Camden white gum, Bentham's gum, Nepean River gum, kayer-ro or durrum-by-ang, is a species of tree that is endemic to New South Wales. It has mostly smooth bluish grey or white bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds arranged in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped, bell-shaped or conical fruit.
The Burrinjuck Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve on the south west slopes of New South Wales, Australia. The 5,250-hectare (13,000-acre) reserve is located adjacent to the Burrinjuck Dam, with 5,118 hectares of the reserve located on the northern side of the reservoir, and the remaining 89 hectares located on the southern side of the reservoir to the northeast of Black Andrew Nature Reserve. It includes land formerly managed as the Burrinjuck State Forest and Burrinjuck State Recreation Area.
The Tokai Arboretum was the first large-scale silviculture experimental station in Cape Town, South Africa. The area of the main Arboretum, at Tokai Park, is 14 ha. Several adjacent compartments extend the area to 26 ha. The Arboretum was declared a National Monument in 1985, on its 100th anniversary. It contains stands of Eucalyptus and other trees from the original silviculture experiments in South Africa. In the 1990s a Gondwana Garden was created to display the plants typical of the Cape 100 million years ago.