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Statement of Significance

The site of Brisbane City Botanic Gardens was selected as a public garden in 1828 by New South Wales Colonial Botanist Charles Fraser, three years after the establishment of the European settlement. Originally the garden was planted with food crops to feed the convicts. In 1855, a portion of the land was declared a 'botanic reserve' and Walter Hill was appointed as curator. The Queensland Heritage Register describes the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens as 'the most significant, non-aboriginal cultural landscape in Queensland having a continuous horticultural history since 1828, without any significant loss of land area or change in use over time.' It incorporates Brisbane's most mature gardens and features many rare and unusual species of plants. This was planted between 1884 and 1904. Its fruit contain high levels of thiamine and 60% flammable oil. Early settlers would hang a string of the nuts together and set them alight to use as candles. Aborigines would eat the seeds and the witchetty grubs that were often found in the bark. It is native from SE Asia to Australia.
This beautiful symmetrical tree with its pale green leaves and its golf-ball sized fruit makes a significant contribution the landscape of the heritage garden.
The tree is located in a prominent position in an open part of the garden about half way along to the west of the river path.