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Level of Significance

  • File
  • Local
  • Regional
  • State
  • National

Age

125yrs

Trees

1

Diameter

0.6m

Height - 7m

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Details

Common name
Karaka
Botanical name
Coronocarpus laevigatus
Type
Individual Tree
Condition
Good
Municipality
Corangamite (VIC)
Location
34 Gnotuk Lane Camperdown VIC 3260
Access
Restricted
Significances
  • Rare (Scientific)
  • Landscape (Social)
  • Park/Garden/Town (Historic)
Date of germination
01 Jan 1900
Date of measurement
23 Apr 2015
Date of classification
24 Jan 2017

Statement of Significance

This Karaka is significant for aesthetic, historic and rarity reasons at Regional level. The Karaka is an evergreen New Zealand native tree that is rarely seen growing in Victoria. It is very hardy on coastal sites which makes it particularly suitable for the salty winds that come off nearby Lake Gnotuk. It provides a contribution to the landscape, forming part of the historic Gnotuk garden.

Location

Gnotuk House is of local historic and aesthetic significance in the Corangamite Shire. The first plantings at Gnotuk were in the early 1860s, at the site of the original stone farmhouse. At that time the 7,700 acre property was at the eastern edge of the vast Glenormiston sheep run of Niel Black, an influential pioneer of the Western District. His nephew Archie built the first “Gnotuk”. According to Niel Black’s diary, the early garden was laid out in July 1862 by Daniel Bunce, a self-taught botanist and first curator of the Botanic Gardens at Geelong. The oldest trees at “Gnotuk” include Illawarra Flame trees, Moreton Bay Figs, Norfolk Island Pines, a New Zealand kauri, a Norfolk Island Hibiscus Tree and an Italian Cypress.