details

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 is an excellent example of the Hoop Pine which was so common in timber building in early days of colonization that it was nearly milled out. Commercial plantations are now grown to meet timber demands. This tree is named after the botanist and explorer Alan Cunningham, who first collected specimens in 1820. It is found in coastal rainforests in Queensland and New South Wales and is one of the species that was common to the area before it was cleared for the penal settlement.
This beautiful large Hoop Pine is in a prominent position on elevated ground and contributes to the landscape of these heritage gardens.
The tree is located about half way along, and just inside, the gardens' fence on George Street, adjacent to the Gardens Point University of Technology.