Level of Significance
- File
- Local
- Regional
- State
- National
Age (approx)
140yrsTrees
1Diameter
3mHeight - 20m
Details
- Outstanding size (Scientific)
- Outstanding species (Scientific)
- Landscape (Social)
- Landmark (Social)
- Contemporary association (Social)
- Park/Garden/Town (Historic)
- Attractive (Aesthetic)
Statement of Significance
This tree is of state significance as an outstanding example of its species, with high aesthetic value, forming part of an historic park, and for its contribution to landscape as an important landmark.
History
Queens Park was gazetted as a Botanic Garden in 1873 and is renowned for its beautiful large trees were planted before 1900. The original Botanical Gardens in Maryborough were a smaller area enclosed by the river, Wharf Street and an unformed extension of Bazaar Street. Two more reserves were added later, forming the magnificent much larger park covering 5.2 hectares. Hundreds of rare, exotic and beautiful trees were introduced early in the park’s development. The magnificent Banyan Fig specimen (Ficus benghalensis) is thought to have been planted as early as the 1870s and is one of the largest in Australia. Many of the trees in the Park are part of the collection of John Carne Bidwill, amateur botanist, explorer and sometimes businessman during the mid-1840s.
Notes
This tree was probably one of the first to be planted in Maryborough's Queen's Park and is thought to be a surviving tree from John Bidwill's collection. During the mid-1840s, amateur botanist, explorer and sometimes businessman, John Carne Bidwill, collected specimens of trees from the Moreton Bay region. (Photo taken 2012)